Túpac Mantilla

holds degrees in classical, world and Indian percussion from the University of Javeriana (Bogotá, Colombia), the New England Conservatory (Boston, USA) and Harvard University (Cambridge, USA). He performs regularly in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center as well as at festivals such as Montreux, Newport and North Sea Jazz and collaborates with artists such as Bobby McFerrin,  Esperanza Spalding, Julian Lage (with whom he was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2009), and lately with the legendary Indian tabla icon Zakir Hussain, with who he is nowadays touring worldwide with, as part of the Masters of Percussion project. 

He regularly teaches and holds lectures and residencies at educational institutions such as Stanford University, New York University, Carnegie Hall, Berklee College and universities across Europe. In 2012, he founded PERCUACTION (www.percuaction.com), an organization that develops and implements rhythm-based artistic and social programs around the world using his own rhythm curriculum.

In 2018, Túpac launched R.I.T.M.O., a learning methodology and rhythm process for well-being, that helps people experience embodiment through rhythmic flow and reach deeper levels of consciousness and integration through movement and the use of the body as a musical instrument. In recent years, he began his latest training DRUM IT!, a Drums and Percussion training that integrates all his experience about world-percussion and his pedagogic approach.