Amado received his Master’s degree in Music from Radford University in May 2018. From there he pursued his DMA in Music Composition at West Virginia University, participating in WVU’s Jazz department and Choral program and teaching freshman Ear Training and Music Theory. Completing his coursework in 2021, he is now ABD (“all but dissertation”) and working as an Adjunct Professor of Music Theory at Radford University. His short-term career goal is teach music at the university level at a forward-looking institution that honors the achievements of the past while transforming programs of study to embrace the music of now.
Amado attended Bobby McFerrin’s Circlesongs workshop in the summer of 2011, and again in 2012, 2013, and 2014. He credits these week-long retreats for re-invigorating his music-making, and for a significant transformation on both a musical and a personal level. Immediately upon returning home from the 2014 workshop, Amado began his Daily Song Project. He has been leading Community Circlesinging Events since 2012.
In 2010, Amado relocated to south-western Virginia and created the jazz combo Trading Eights, active until 2014. In 2014-2015, he was the vocalist and front-man for Groovestones, a pop/funk band.
In 1999, Amado relocated to central Florida and became a founding member of the funky blues band the Syndicators. The group had some regional success, and in 2003 was hand-picked by the Bose corporation to be one of only 24 bands nationwide to help them introduce their new live amplification system. In 2005 Amado founded a funky jazz and blues band called Upbeat, which appeared at venues throughout the greater Orlando area, including the Hard Rock Live.
Amado received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1997, with a dual-major in Music Theory and Music Composition. He credits the Jazz Vocal Workshop course taught there for igniting his performance career; he was active in Jazz jam scene in Baltimore, DC, and Philadelphia from 1996 – 1999.
Amado’s self-produced album Wanderlust was completed in 1998, and featured a selection of progressive- and art-rock influenced songs written between 1987 and 1996. The album was released on the fledgling website mp3.com, in its first incarnation as a haven for independent artists.
Amado also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Binghamton University, with a major in Philosophy and a concentration in Psychology. He spent much of his time there writing music, singing in rock bands, and performing as one of the original members of the a cappella group the Binghamtonics.
Born and raised in central New York State, Amado was introduced to music through grade-school trombone lessons and participation in the choir at his local Lutheran church. As a teenager, he was inspired by Progressive Rock—particularly the bands Queen, Rush, Styx, Asia, Yes, Howard Jones, and (slightly later) Prince. His first rock performance experience was as a vocalist in a “rock ensemble” group organized by the music department of his high school, which performed a variety of the light pop-rock tunes of the time.