Carlos Pérez was born in Santiago de Chile, and raised in a home where music was always in the air. His father, an amateur musician who played guitar, never hesitated to invite musician friends over to play and sing, and this environment encouraged young Carlos to pick up the guitar when he was only four or five years old.
Pérez began his study of the classical guitar at age 13, inspired by classical guitar recordings such as Asturias and Recuerdos de la Alhambra. Soon thereafter, he took up studies at the University of Chile, where he was taught by Ernesto Quezada, learning theory, harmony, counterpoint, history, and more.
Since graduating from the program with top honors, he has continued to garner accolades, on stages and in competitions worldwide, including first prize in the Alirio Díaz in Venezuela (1996), the René Bartoli in France (1997), the Printemps de la Guitare in Belgium (1998), Forum Gitarre in Austria (2000), and the Fundacion Guerrero (2000) and Joaquín Rodrigo Competition (2006) in Spain. He has recorded five albums, and performed in more than 30 nations across the globe, including England, Belgium, the United States, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Poland, and Chile.