09/02/2026
We're thrilled to welcome Luis Fred to the !
Dr. Luis F. Fred is Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Dr. Fred was Principal Trombone of the Puerto Rico Symphony and Associate Professor of Music at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. He has extensive symphonic experience having played with organizations such as the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, and Houston Symphony orchestras. He was co-principal trombone of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid (Madrid Opera) and Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla in Spain. He has worked with renowned conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Jaap van Zweden, Esa Pekka-Salonen, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Tilson Thomas, Robert Spano, Donald Runnicles, Yuri Temirkanov, Jane Glover, Nicolas Kraemer, Maximiano Valdés, Antoni Ros Marbá and Roselín Pabón.
Dr. Fred is a member of Trombones de Costa Rica (TCR), a quartet that specializes in bringing Latin American music to international audiences. He has toured with TCR in Argentina, Costa Rica, and the United States. Other activities as a chamber musician include performances with the Chicago Music of the Baroque and the Casals Festival Chamber Players. He was a resident artist at the Harlaxton Chamber Music Festival in the United Kingdom and, recorded with Puerto Rico Symphony's principal clarinetist Kathleen Jones in Caribe Clarinete.
As a soloist, Luis Fred has been a sought artist for multiple premieres. His latest was William Pagán-Pérez’s Three-Afro Hispanic Movements, was premiered on UCF Celebrates the Arts in the Spring of 2021. Other solo credits include ensembles such as the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional of Colombia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico, US Army Orchestra in the American Trombone Workshop, Banda Sinfónica de Santa Fe in Trombonanza, Argentina, and multiple university ensembles in the United States. He is a sought after as a clinician having done seminars in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Peru, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela.
He has recorded with a variety of ensembles. The 30th-anniversary recordings with Trombones de Costa Rica was released on a FB-Live in July 2021 and has reached over 25,000 viewers. His orchestral recordings include a Latin-Grammy nominated production of Rafael Hernández’s opera Cofresí with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico. Other recording credits include the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid recording of Manuel Penella's El Gato Montés for the Deutsche Gramophone Label, and with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, Amadeo Vives' Doña Francisquita, for the Sony Classical label.
Dr. Fred holds degrees from Northwestern University (DMA), Manhattan School of Music (MM) and Indiana University (BM). His former teachers include Michael Mulcahy, Timothy Higgins, Douglas Wright, Randy Hawes, Christopher Davis, Steve Norrell, David Finlayson, Joseph Alessi, Keith Brown, Edwin Anderson, and Antonio Salcedo.
Luis plays the Bach 42B Trombone.
