Christian Vásquez opens the Tongyeong Festival in South Korea on March 26 with a program that includes Fanfare & Memorial (1979), by Korean composer Isang Yung, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, with Bomsori Kim as soloist, and Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 by Dmitri Shostakovich. Two days later, on March 28, he will conduct again the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra in a program that includes the Asian premiere of Fazil Say’s Cello Concerto Never Give Up, with Camille Thomas as soloist, and the Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 by Antonin Dvořâk. Christian Vásquez has recently conducted two great concerts with the Symphony Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias, and upon his return from Korea he will once again conduct the Stavanger Symphony in Norway.
Christian Vásquez is Musical Director of the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, which he conducted on a remarkable European tour that took them to London, Lisbon, Toulouse, Munich, Stockholm and Istanbul. He was Principal Conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra from 2013 to 2019 and Principal Guest Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest from 2015 to 2020, a position that he began with a Latin program on a tour around The Netherlands. Following his debut with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra in October 2009, one of his first appearances in Europe, Christian Vásquez was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra (2010-2013). He has worked with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Salzburg Camerata, Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic or Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In North America he has conducted the National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, during his participation in their Young Artist Fellowship program.
He has conducted orchestras such as the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Sinfónica de Galicia, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Beethoven Festival Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague, Poznan Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Mexican National Symphony Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Gran Canaria Philharmonic and the Estonian National Orchestra. His first operatic engagement in Europe was at the Norwegian Opera with Carmen.
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.
On November 20 at the Auditorio de Galicia, Pacho Flores and Manuel Hernández-Silva will present, together with the Royal Galician Philharmonia, Cantos y Revueltas, Pacho Flores’ new album for Deutsche Grammophon with the Galician orchestra conducted by Hernández-Silva that includes, among other works and as a centerpiece, the homonymous concert for trumpet and Venezuelan cuatro by Pacho Flores himself.
Cantos y Revueltas
Cantos y Revueltas is a fantasia concertante for trumpet, Venezuelan cuatro and strings, premiered last January 2018 in Santiago, Vigo and A Coruña by the Royal Galician Philharmonia under Hernández-Silva, together with cuatro player Leo Rondón and, of course, Pacho Flores’ trumpets. It is a work rooted in old work songs and popular Venezuelan tunes, but also in modern Caribbean-like rhythms. The album begins with the Concerto para corno da caccia by Johann Baptist Georg Neruda, continues with the Aria from Bachiana Brasileira No. 5 by Villa-Lobos, Cantos y Revueltas, El Diablo suelto by Heraclio Fernández and Piazolla’s Winter in Buenos Aires, and was recorded live at the Palacio de la Ópera in A Coruña on January 13, 2018.
This is a double CD-DVD that includes a video recording of the concert and various extras, including interviews revealing the origin of Pacho’s work as well as curiosities about the process that led to its premiere in Santiago and its recording. Cantos y Revueltas is the fourth recording for Pacho Flores with Deutsche Grammophon after Cantar, with the Konzerthausorchester in Berlin conducted Christian Vásquez, Entropía, with guitar player Jesús ‘Pingüino’ González, and Fractales, with the Arctic Philharmonic conducted by Christian Lindberg. These concerts also counted on Pablo Barreiro for the audio recording and Antonio Cid and Joaquín Calderón for the video recording and production, which allowed to obtain a result that met Deutsche Grammophon’s highest artistic and technical standards.
Pacho Flores
Every so often, sometimes after several generations, some artists appear who are a milestone in their respective disciplines. This is the case with Pacho Flores, the great trumpet player of the 21st century so far, who is improving the performance technique and the expressive possibilities of the instrument to unknown levels. In collaboration with his brand, his STOMVI team, he is carrying out a formidable development and technical improvement of the trumpet, with new instruments in different keys and with four pistons that expand its register and palette. Many of these instruments are prototypes only available to Pacho, and only some, once tested, get produced for the market sale.
Pacho is also actively promoting an unprecedented expansion of the repertoire for solo trumpet and orchestra. After releasing some works dedicated to him by composers such as Efraín Oscher (Concierto Mestizo, 2010; Soledad, 2013, included in the album CANTAR; Barroqueana Venezolana nº 2, 2017; and Apex, double concert for trumpet and clarinet, 2018), Giancarlo Castro (Stunning trumpet, 2017), Alain Trudel (Preach pour trumpet et orchestre), etc., Pacho decided to take over and launch a project of shared commissions to some of the most relevant composers nowadays such as Arturo Márquez, Roberto Sierra, Paquito D’Rivera, Efraín Oscher, Christian Lindberg or Daniel Freiberg, which allows a systematic and scheduled update of new works with technical and musical requirements according to the possibilities offered by the new instruments. This program has already begun to bear fruit: Arturo Márquez and Paquito D’Rivera’s works have already been premiered, and the concerts by Roberto Sierra and Efraín Oscher’s will be presented this season. In addition, and in collaboration with his label, Deutsche Grammophon, Pacho is producing the most complete discography on the trumpet performed by the same artist, recording reference versions of the repertoire classics, as well as the new works that, by his own efforts, are joining the literature for this instrument.
Christian Vásquez and Pacho Flores are working together again, this time with the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, on November 8 and 9 at the Auditorio León de Greiff. The program includes the following works: Gershwin: Cuban Overture; Márquez: Concierto de Otoño; Villalobos: Aria de la Bachiana nº 5; Flores: Morocota; Piazzolla: Invierno Porteño (from Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas); and Ginastera: Suite from ballet Estancia.
Christian Vásquez and Pacho Flores have known each other since their infancy, when they were together at EL SISTEMA in Venezuela. After developing an international career and being both based in Europe, they have had the chance to collaborate on different occasions with orchestras such as the Philharmonic of Turku in Finland, the Stavanger Symphony in Norway or the Het Gelders Orkest in the Netherlands, in addition to Pacho Flores’ record debut for Deutshe Grammophon with CANTAR, which they recorded with the Funkhausorchester in Berlin in 2013.
If Christian Vásquez and Pacho Flores recorded what was Pacho’s first record for the yellow label, this program includes two works, Aria de la Bachiana nº 5 by Villalobos and Invierno Porteño by Piazzolla, which are part of CANTOS Y REVUELTAS, his fourth record for the German label that will be launched very soon. This new album was conducted by Manuel Hernández-Silva with the participation of Venezuelan cuatro player Leo Rondón and the Royal Galician Philharmonia. In between these two were published the albums ENTROPÍA, in 2017, with guitarist Jesús ‘Pingüino’ González, and FRACTALES, in 2018, with the Arctic Philharmonic and Christian Lindberg. This program also includes Arturo Márquez’s Concierto de Otoño, which is part of a large and ambitious project of shared commissions for new trumpet concerts that Pacho himself is promoting and that includes composers such as Roberto Sierra, Paquito D’Rivera, Efraín Oscher, Christian Lindberg and Daniel Freiberg. The main target of this project is to expand and improve the repertoire for solo trumpet with orchestra.
Leo Rondón, venezuelan Cuatro He took the 3rd place in La Siembra del Cuatro competition in 2007, the 2nd place in 2012 and in 2011 the 2nd place in El Silbón and San Martín. After teaching cuatro soloist, music theory and double bass at Merida School of Music (2003 –...
