Meet Pedro Pablo Cámara | Saxophonist, professor, musicologist, artistic researcher and producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pedro Pablo Cámara and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pedro Pablo, how do you think about risk?
Risk for me is an intrinsic part of life, it is necessary for anyone, but even more so for an artist. Dedicating your career to music is a decision that involves risk in many ways: with respect to the future work, family, personal, social, about mental wellness, etc.

In my case, I have lived since I was 18 years old away from my family and friends. It was always for the studies, first Madrid, then Mallorca and then Basilea, in addition to all the trips that the profession requires. But, now back in Madrid, close to my hometown in Toledo, I am grateful to have lived in different places and traveled to so many cities. I think I’ve learned a lot along the way.

But obviously it’s worth the risk, of course. If I could go back to the very beginning, I would choose my life, my risks, over and over again.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think that artists are just that, artists, otherwise we are people like the rest. I don’t seek to be different, I seek that my understanding and work of music can make me, consequently, different, but it is not my goal.

We all have something of our own, I think that in my case everything arises from respect for music, from deep study, which makes you reach your own and different conclusions. In the end, when I play the saxophone I look for my own voice. I think this is what keeps me wanting to stay evolving in my research every day.

I feel proud when I can convey something to the public, or to other musicians or to my students, things that cannot be communicated with words.

I honestly think we never really know where we are in our careers, it’s a wonderful thing, it makes the artist always want to evolve. I suppose that if I am in a place today, it is because I have always believed in the sincere study of music, music as sound discourse. Of course it hasn’t been easy, daily we find ourselves with new challenges that we must understand to continue.

On this path you learn as much as you want to learn, as much as you are able to observe and assimilate. I think that in this process I have learned to know and understand myself, but above all to be a better person.

I want them to feel many things when they listen to my music, to see many colors or imagine many landscapes, as many as I see within myself. But above all, that they listen a sincere expression.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If you come to Madrid, the most important thing is to enjoy life in the city, beyond the tourist attractions, which I also recommend.

You cannot miss visiting the great museums (Prado, Thyssen, Reina Sofía,…) but also other lesser-known ones such as the Sorolla Museum, it has a magnificent patio to talk or relax for a moment. Also the café in Romanticism Museum is a very special place to spend some time.

Strolling through the Royal Botanical Garden is magnificent, or watching the sunset from the Temple of Debod or walking along Pintor Rosales avenue.

Madrid is full of fantastic restaurants (80 Grados Malasaña or Gran Carbón in Barrio Salamanca), but also authentic and more affordable taverns (El Lusi in Lavapiés or El filete in Malasaña).

Take a walk, enjoy the sun in winter, it’s the best in the city and don’t forget to attend a concert!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am a person who humbly believes that talent is worked, that’s why I think I owe a large part of my career to my teachers, especially Vicente Toldos, Marcus Weiss, Sergio Azzolini, Claudio Martínez and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, also to the Basilea’s Academy of Music.

I am a great lover of reading, I also write short stories, it is very difficult to recommend a single book, but I will choose “Cronopios and famas” by Julio Cortázar.

Website: www.pedropablocamara.com

Instagram: pedropablocamara

Twitter: @CamaraPedroP

Facebook: @pedrocamarasaxophone

Youtube: Pedro Pablo Cámara

Image Credits
Main photo: Pablo F. Juárez 1 Playing Between me and myself V by Andreas E. Frank 2 Photo by María Díez 3 Photo by Santi Vilma 4 Playing POV by Oscar Escudero 5 Playing Fantasia by Villa-Lobos with OHIR in Guadalajara (México) 6 Playing -Tiest by Jose Pablo Polo 7 Playing Hidden by Jose Pablo Polo 8 After a performance of POV by Escudero