Flute, Guitar, Ukulele
Oscar Velasco is a native of El Salvador who currently resides in Maryland. He studied at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in Winston-Salem under veteran flute instructor Philip Dunigan. Prior to his freshman year at UNCSA, Oscar was asked to perform at the North Carolina Governor's Award for Excellence in 2000. He then was awarded a full 2-year scholarship to attend UNCSA, where he played in school ensembles and toured with Dunigan’s flute studio. Oscar also joined El Grupo Camaleón and performed Afro-Cuban and other Latin music styles on guitar, flute, and voice during his time at UNCSA.
In El Salvador, Oscar became a charter member of the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of El Salvador and was selected to perform "Il Gardellino". Oscar joined the Orquesta de Cámara del Instituto de Estudion Musicales Avanzados and TALTICPAC, an ethnomusicology organization that features pre-Columbian clay and stone flutes unearthed from archeological sites in El Salvador. He also studied guitar under Cándido Morales, a disciple of Agustín Barrios' "Mangoré."
In North Carolina, Oscar joined the Raleigh Area Flute Association (RAFA) Flute ensemble playing bass flute. He won RAFA's annual Review and Contest Award. After moving to the DC area in 2003, he joined a handful of organizations including the Latin American Folk Institute Ensemble (Mount Rainier, MD), playing charangas and danzones; the America Balaika Symphony (Arlington, VA); the DCDD Symphonic Band (Washington, DC); the NIH Philarmonia (Bethesda, MD); the JCC Symphony Orchestra (Rockville, MD); the Rock Creek Chamber Players (Bethesda); the University of Maryland Repertoire Orchestra, and other chamber music ensembles that include his wife Roberta Holtz on bassoon and flute. Oscar has organized and performed in benefit concerts for organizations such as the Georgetown Library and Miriam's House in Washington DC.
Some recent highlights include performing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring on Alto Flute with the NIH Philharmonia and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony on principal flute with the University of Maryland Orchestra. Upcoming performances include Ravel's Rapsodie Espagnole, and Debussy's La Mer with the NIH Philarmonia.
When he is not practicing, teaching, or rehearsing, Oscar works at the University of Maryland as a Program Manager Specialist where he is currently pursuing a Master of Software Engineering degree. He also enjoys running marathons and cycling.