Sevillian harpist Cristina Montes Mateo will make her debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias on 8 and 9 October at the Teatro Jovellanos in Gijón and the Auditorio Príncipe Felipe in Oviedo, respectively. Under maestro Miguel Romea, she will perform the Concerto Capriccio for harp and orchestra (1975) by Xavier Montsalvatge. This concert was commissioned by the Orquesta Nacional de España and Nicanor Zabaleta -to whom it is dedicated-, who premiered it together with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at the Teatro Real in Madrid on 18 April of that same year.
Cristina Montes completed her studies in London and at the Orchestra Academy of the Staatskapelle Berlin under the direction of maestro Daniel Barenboim. Based in Los Angeles, the Sevillian harpist has given recitals throughout Europe, the US, Japan and South America, and has worked with major international orchestras such as the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orquesta Simón Bolívar in Venezuela, Orquesta de Santiago de Chile, Orchester des Theater für Niedersachsen Hannover or Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In Spain she has performed with the Orquesta de Cordoba, the Malaga Philharmonic, the Valencian Community Orchestra and the JONDE (National Youth Orchestra of Spain).
Her recordings include the album Obras para arpa, with 11 premieres by Spanish female composers; Voyage (NAXOS), with works by Bach, Sancan and Prokofiev, or her most recent album for the Spanish label IBS Classical, which includes among other the harp concerto Pour le jour de l’an, with the Moonwinds Wind Ensemble conducted by Joan Enric Lluna, and the Partita op. 80 for solo harp, both by Salvador Bacarisse. Since 2013, she teaches at the Joaquín Rodrigo Conservatory of Music in Valencia and gives master classes at the Berklee College of Music, Birmingham Conservatoire or Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.
Cristina Montes, harp Winner of the unanimously 1st Prize in the XII Edition of the “Torneo Internazionale di Musica” (Rome, 2006) and the unanimously 1st Prize in the International Harp Competition “V. Bucchi” (2009), Cristina Montes Mateo is recognized as one...
Christian Vásquez is at the Opéra National de Paris assisting Gustavo Dudamel in the eleven performances of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro that have been taking place at the Palais Garnier since last January 21. Immediately afterwards, Christian Vásquez will return to Spain to conduct the Navarre Symphony Orchestra in a program consisting of the Concierto-capriccio for harp and orchestra by Xavier Montsalvatge, featuring the Sevillian harpist Cristina Montes Mateo, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 3. Later this season he will return again to our country to conduct the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and his good friend Pacho Flores, whom he will lead in the world premiere of the Concierto para fliscorno, by the trumpeter himself, and Danzas Latinas, by Efraín Oscher, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64.
Christian Vásquez was Music Director of the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and the and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest and the Gävle Symfoniorkester. He has worked with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Vienna Radio Symphony, Camerata Salzburg, State Symphony of Russia, Tokyo Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Sinfónica de Galicia, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Warsaw Beethoven Festival, Turku Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Poznan Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orquesta Nacional de México, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Münchner Philharmoniker, Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra or RTE National Symphony. Christian’s first opera engagement in Europe was at the Norwegian Opera with Carmen. In North America, he has conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) and Los Angeles Philharmonic, the latter during his participation in their Young Artist Fellowship Program.
Christian Vásquez began to study violin at the age of eight years in San Sebastián de los Reyes (Aragua State). In 2006 he started his studies in orchestra conducting under the direction of Jose Antonio Abreu and was appointed Musical Director of the Sinfónica Juvenil José Félix Ribas, at the Aragua State.
Maestro Christian Vásquez will be conducting in Italy and Poland for the next two weeks: in Italy, he will lead the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra on November 26 and 27 at the Politeama Garibaldi Theater, in a program that includes concerts for saxophone and orchestra by Glazunov and Pierre-Philippe Bauzin, with saxophonist Alex Sebastianutto, and Symphony No. 8 by Dvořák. In Poland, he will conduct the National Music Forum Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra (NFM Filharmonia Wrocławska) on December 3. The program includes Vaughan Williams’s Suite for Viola and Orchestra, with Artur Tokarek as soloist, and Bizet’s Symphony in C. Immediately afterwards, Christian will travel to Paris to assist Gustavo Dudamel in the production of Le nozze di Figaro at the National Opera of Paris, whose performances will take place throughout the months of January and February, just before returning to Spain to lead the Navarra Symphony Orchestra, in a program that includes the Concerto-Capriccio for harp and orchestra by Xavier Montsalvatge with the harpist Cristina Montes, and Brahms’ 3rd Symphony.
Christian Vásquez was Music Director of the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, leading them on an important tour around Europe which took them to perform in London, Lisbon, Toulouse, Munich, Stockholm and Istanbul. Vásquez has also been Principal Conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra between 2013 and 2019, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest from 2015 till 2020, a tenure he started with a tour around The Netherlands featuring an all-Latin programme.
Following his debut with the Gävle Symfoniorkester in October 2009, one of his first appearances in Europe, Christian was appointed Principal Guest Conductor between 2010 and 2013. He has worked with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Vienna Radio Symphony, Camerata Salzburg, State Symphony of Russia, Tokyo Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony. In North America, he has conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) and Los Angeles Philharmonic, the latter during his participation in their Young Artist Fellowship Program.
Since then he has conducted orchestras in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Estonia, Ireland, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Korea, etc. Christian’s first opera engagement in Europe was at the Norwegian Opera with Carmen. Christian Vásquez started playing the violin at the age of 8, in the city of San Sebastián de los Reyes (Aragua State). In 2006 he began his studies of orchestral conducting under maestro José Antonio Abreu, and that same year he was appointed musical director of the José Félix Ribas Youth Symphony Orchestra, in the Aragua State.
