Marimba One Artists

César began his musical career as an autodidact drummer at the age of 12 in his hometown Iquique, a small city in the north of Chile. There, he found out his deep interest for percussion. At the age of 16 he joins the Youth Symphonic Orchestra of that city getting in this way little by little the initial steps in knowledge about the symphonic percussion, so that fact allows him to learn and improve himself in two areas of percussion: Drums and Orchestral Percussion.

In 2000 he moved to Santiago de Chile where he began his professional Studies on Percussion at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). There he gain experience in different areas of percussion allowing him to form which in the future would be one its greatest qualities, his musical versatility.

César has worked as a guest percussionist with the National Opera Orchestra of Santiago, Maríinsky Orchestra of Saint Petersburg, L ́Arte del Mondo Chamber Orchestra & Rundfunkchor Berlin, Plácido Domingo Orchestra for Die Walküre Opera, Daniel Moore (Iowa) with UC Percussion Ensemble, Mark Ford (North Texas) with UC Percussion Ensemble, Giselle Elgarresta (Barry University, Miami), Reko Jazz Big Band and MusicActual Ensemble.

It is worth it to mention that he has played under the baton of remarkable conductors like Valery Gergiev (Russia), Zsolt Nagy (Hungary), Zubin Mehta (Israel), Gustavo Dudamel (Venezuela- USA), Dimitri Jurowski (Russia), Maurizio Benini (Italy), Konstantin Chudovsky (Russia), Michal Nesterowicks (Poland), Gijs Leenaars (Germany), Giselle Elgarresta (USA), Alexander Mickelthwate (Germany), José Luis Dominguez (Chile), Helmuth Reichel (Germany-Chile), Rodolfo Saglimbeni (Venezuela), Ola Rudner (Sweden), Leonid Grin (USA), Ligia Amadio (Brasil), Plácido Domingo (Spain), among others.

As a soloist, in 2007 won the 1st place in the UC Chamber Orchestra Young Soloist Competition. Then he was on tour playing the Mayusumi Concertino for Xylophone and Orchestra with the IMUC Chamber Orchestra.

He has premiered, in Chile and South America, great Works for solo and percussion ensemble. In 2006 premiered in Chile the Marimba trio “Afta Stuba” with the Mark Ford ensemble. In 2013 premiered in Chile and south america “Eight on 3 and Nine on 2“ by Robert Marino. In 2015 Performed the premiere in Chile/South america of "Go Between" for drumset solo and percussion ensemble by Ruud Wiener.
Between 2018 and 2021, César premiered in Chile/South América “Attraction“ mariba solo by Emmanuel Séjourné, “Swerve” for Solo Snare Drum, “360°” for percussion duo by Gene Koshinski, and his own composition “Contrastes” for Marimba and multiple percussion.

Recently, during the Catholic University 2024 Music Season, he premiered, with the Grupo de Percussion UC, greats new works for percussion ensemble; “Spero” by Michael Burritt, “Passage to Uncharted World” by Austin Keck and “Pillar III & IV” by Andy Akiho.

César has recorded works playing percussion and drumset with the PUC Chamber Orchestra, IMUC Contemporary Music Ensemble, National Symphonic Orchestra of Chile, Reko Jazz Big Band, UC Percussion Group, Carlos Vera L., Subhira Chamber Music, MusicActual Ensemble, Daniel Muñoz & Los Marujos, among others.

César has attended, as guest artist, important national and international music festivals: Pedagogy Innovation in Higher Education Seminar (Chile),  Cordoba International Percussion Festival (Argentina), Maríinsky Orchestra Festival, Frankfurter Herbsttage for Neue Komposition (Germany), FOJI International Percussion Festival (Chile),
San Juan Percussion Festival (Argentina), Semanas Musicales de Frutillar (Chile), Semanas Musicales de Villarrica (Chile), Bicentenario Konzert in der Alte Feuerwache Kòln (Germany), Oriente Jazz Festival (Chile), Jazz Cycles at the IMUC (Chile), UC Contemporary Music Festival (Chile). 

On the other hand, recently attended the seminar given by the professor in education Catherine Horn (Houston University) “Equity in the University Education”, the National Congress of percussion pedagogy (NCPP 2021) and to the seminar “Technique and musicality in percussion instruments” by profesor Pablo Rieppi (Juilliard School of Music).

During his college years he studied and attended percussion master clases, workshops and seminars given by recognized professors: Ney Rosauro (Brazil-USA), Dan Moore (Iowa-USA), Mark Ford (North Texas-USA), Bernard Wulff (Germany), Jean Geoffroy (France), Timothy Adams (USA), Will Hudgins (New England conservatory-USA), John W. Parks IV (Florida State University-USA), Claudio Estay (Bayerischer Staatsoper-Germany), Ángel Frette (Philhamonic Orchestra of Buenos Aires), Alan Bor (Israel Philarmonic Orchestra), among others.

He also has attended Drumset, Diversity Alliance, Percussion and Percussion Education master classes, panel discussion and workshops given by outstanding artists like Neil Grover, Peter Erskine, Jean Baptist Leclére, Quey Percussion Duo, Dr. Matthew Lau, Michael Udow, Ed Soph, Antonio Sanches, Peter Kogan, Thomas Burritt, David Valdés, Roy Haynes, Ney Rosauro, Casey Cangelosi, among many others great artists and researchers at PASIC.

César received his Bachelor Degree (B.M.) in Music Performance (Percussion Studies) and Pedagogy in University Teaching Program with the highest distinction from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Jazz in America Webinar certificate by The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz and regularly assists to the NCPP (National conference on percussion pedagogy) and PASIC (Percussive Arts International Convention).

Professor César Vilca is a recognized percussion educator and percussion performer, who in the last few years, has innovated in the Chilean music and percussion education field, applying active methodologies like; Mock Auditions, Flipped clasroom model and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in his courses. 

Currently, César holds the position of head of percussion studies at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, conductor and music director of the UC Percussion Group “Grupo de Percusión UC”, coordinator of music/orchestral instructor diploma from PUC (Continuing education program), permanent guest percussionist in the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile,  and is part of the orchestral Instructors in one of the most important youth and children ́s music foundations of South America; “The Youth and Children ́s Orchestras Foundation of Chile, FOJI”.

César is proudly the first Marimba One educational artist in Chile and Sabían Cymbals Education Artist.