Edmar Castañeda

Edmar Castañeda
Edmar Castañeda at Marcus+ concert, 2011
Background information
Born (1978-03-31) 31 March 1978
Bogotá, Colombia
GenresLatin Jazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentHarp
Years active1990s–present
LabelArpayvoz
Websitewww.edmarcastaneda.com

Edmar Castañeda (born 1978) is a Colombian harpist. He performs his own compositions as well as tapping into native music of Colombia and Venezuela.

He leads a trio with Julian Miltenburger on drums and Birsa Chattergee on tenor saxophone and tabla. He has also been a member of the Andrea Tierra Quartet with Andrea Tierra, Sam Sadigursky, and David Silliman.

Castañeda's father was Pavelid Castañeda, a harpist, singer, and teacher. Edmar Castañeda began playing the harp at the age of 13. In the mid 1990s he moved to New York City and studied jazz trumpet before returning to the harp. In 2006 he released his first solo album, Cuarto de Colores.

He has performed with Paquito D'Rivera, Simón Diaz, Lila Downs, Giovanni Hidalgo, Joe Locke, Wynton Marsalis, John Patitucci, Janis Siegel, John Scofield, Samuel Torres, Hiromi Uehara, Béla Fleck, Antonio Sánchez, and the United Nations Orchestra.

For 2026 Grammy Awards, he received a nomination for the album BEATrio in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category.