About Omar Carmenates

Thank you for visiting my website! In addition to my “day job” as the Charles E. Daniel Professor of Music and director of percussion studies at Furman University, I love creating new works and collaborating on artistic endeavors. Whether it is with fellow percussionists, composers, D.J.’s, or even biologists and poets, the excitement and risk of creating something new and unknown is what “fills my cup” and fuels my spirit.

This site is intended as a celebration of that work; a place to share not only my own music, but also that of the artists and creators that I have had the pleasure of working with. So, as you browse around, you’ll not only be able to peruse, purchase, and listen to my own music, but also that of many of collaborative projects that I have been a part of.

Have a look around, support new music (whether it’s mine or anyone else’s), and don’t forget to come back often, as this site will continue to be updated with new music as it becomes available!

More about me

  • Director of Percussion Studies at Furman University since 2008.
  • Director of the Furman University Percussion Ensemble, recently named a winner of the 2022 Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition
  • Director/Arranger/Executive Producer of the “John Psathas Percussion Project”
  • I have a passion for interdisciplinary art and scholarship, particularly centered around sustainability.
  • Creativity and collaborating are at the heart of just about everything I do in my musical life, and I would love to hear from you with any great ideas you have for future projects.

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Percussionist Omar Carmenates standing at a marimba
Omar Carmenates playing marimba with 4-mallet Stevens grip

The John Psathas Percussion Project

The John Psathas Percussion Project highlights Psathas’ diverse compositional style and Carmenates’ dedication to expanding the percussion repertoire through innovative arrangements. Initiated in 2013, the project culminated in the 2019 release of The John Psathas Percussion Project, Vol. 1, featuring works like “Corybas” and “Drum Dances,” blending various musical influences into dynamic percussion performances. Shop arrangements ▸

The Gaia Theory

My first solo CD, the Gaia Theory, is inspired by of the scientific theory of the same name that contends all living and non-living things on Earth work together to promote life. This controversial theory suggests that each organism on the planet is intertwined with every other. The Gaia Theory seeks to demonstrate a similar connective force through music. Every selection in The Gaia Theory was chosen for having a link with some aspect of our world.
From the cross-cultural connections in the music of John Psathas, to the unique recycled found objects in Christopher Deane’s “The Scavenger’s Footprints,” it is my hope that The Gaia Theory provides a musical means to contemplate the significance of our relationships with each other and with our planet.

Furman University purple emblem

Furman University Percussion Ensemble

The Furman University Percussion Ensemble performs a wide variety of literature while also dedicating itself to the commissioning, performing, and recording of new works from a diverse body of living composers and collaborators. The ensemble’s recent accolades include being named a winner of the 2022 Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition, a New Music/Research Performance at the 2019 Percussive Arts Society International Convention, and recording works for The John Psathas Percussion Project: Volume 1 released through Navona Records. Gramaphone magazine has hailed the recording as having “superbly rendered performances [that] match any of their competitors. We all need a little bit of percussion in our lives, and this fits the bill splendidly.”

As part of a long-standing collaboration with the Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities, the ensemble has also become known for its performances of ecoacoustic music, helping promote Furman’s standing as one of the nation’s academic leaders in sustainability. Recent projects include the commissioning and premiering of the concert-length outdoor work Inuksuit by Pulitzer-Prize winning composer John Luther Adams, and a 2019 premiere recording of the music of Matthew Burtner including Avian Telemetry, an interdisciplinary work written expressly for the ensemble. This recording, released through Ravello Records, has been hailed as “a firm commentary about human’s place in nature… an absorbing and enlightening experience that you can’t help but admire.” As part of Furman's commitment to the undergraduate liberal arts experience, students of the Furman Percussion Ensemble also regularly engage in interdisciplinary research and have performed and/or presented at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Ecomusics and Ecomusicologies conference, the nief-norf Summer Festival Research Summit, the International Conference on Romanticism, and the ESRI International GIS User Conference.

Alumni from the ensemble can be found at top graduate programs across the country - including the Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan, Florida State University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of Texas-Austin, among others. Beyond graduate school, alumni also work in a variety of musical careers such as with the Grammy-Award winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion, to teaching at universities and school music programs across the United States.

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