A guitarist trying to unite music styles
https://www.rafael-aguirre.com/
Rafael Aguirre is an internationally acclaimed musician whose deep understanding of music, dazzling virtuosity and immensely diverse repertoire has taken him to 33 countries. Thirteen First Prizes at international competitions (including the Tarrega Competition and Pro Musicis, New York), marked the beginning of an extraordinary career, being currently one of the most celebrated guitarists worldwide.
He performs regularly in prestigious venues, such as the Carnegie Hall in New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vienna Konzerthaus, Moscow Tchaikovsky Hall, Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, Saint Petersburg Philharmonia, Cuba’s National Theatre, the Hyogo Performing Arts Center (Japan) or the Seoul Arts Center (South Korea).
His debut at the prestigious Verbier Festival in Switzerland, performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Verbier Chamber Orchestra was broadcast by medici.tv, being one the most seen videos on its Facebook page, with almost 3 million views in only twelve months.
An extensive repertoire, with more than 30 concertos for guitar and orchestra has allowed him to perform with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Korea, the Orchestre National de Lyon, Toulon Opera Symphony, Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Thüringen Philharmonic, Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, New Westfalia Philharmonic, Moscow New Russia, Malaga Philharmonic, Cámera Musicae Symphony, Extremadura Orchestra or the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra, among others, under conductors such as Jesús López Cobos, Lorenzo Viotti, Karina Canellakis, Yoel Levy, Pavel Baleff, Sebastian Tewinkel, Clemens Schuldt or Alexandre Myrat.
His performances are hailed as “a blessing” (Mainz Echo), “the future of the concert guitar” (Kultur Port), “one of the most acclaimed ambassadors of the Spanish guitar” (El País), as well as emphasizing on his “maturity and intensity” (Ritmo).
Following the classical tradition of Andrés Segovia and Narciso Yepes, Rafael Aguirre additionally seeks to expand and innovate in the repertoire of his instrument, incorporating music from different styles, such as flamenco, chamber music, pop, film music, or Spanish and Latinamerincan folk music. His collaborations with contemporary composers have taken him to premier works by Sergio Assad (Grammy Award winner), Joaquín Clerch, Agustín Castilla Avila, David del Puerto and Daniel Real.
His first recital album was published by RTVE Música, being followed by two others released by Naxos. With the German label KSGExaudio he released “Transcriptions”, with music by Bach, Scarlatti, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Debussy, Ravel and Gershwin transcribed for guitar from original piano music. His collaboration with cellist Nadège Rochat resulted in the release of “La Vida Breve” by the label Ars Produktion. Two other projects presented him with a repertoire of Brazilian music (with Anette Maiburg’s ensemble for the label MDG) and Portuguese fado (with singer Filipa Tavares). His eighth release will be out in 2018 with the First World Recording of Lorenzo Palomo’s “Fulgores” with Castilla y León Symphony, violinist Ana Valderrama and Maestro Jesús López Cobos, once more for Naxos.
As a result of these recordings, he has been pre-nominated for a Latin Grammy and has received enthusiastic reviews by Gramophone, The Strad and Crescendo Magazine, also appearing on broadcasts by international radios, such as the BBC, NPR, CBS, Radio Stephansdom de Viena, Radio Berlin Brandenburg, HR Hessische Rundfunk, la Bayerische Rundfunk, NDR, MDR, Radio Nacional de España and The New Classical FM (Toronto).
At the age of 16 he made his orchestral debut with the “Concierto de Aranjuez” and the Malaga Youth Symphony Orchestra touring Spain and Morocco. He was awarded scholarships from the Andalusian Government and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation that enabled his studies at the Hochschule Robert Schumann de Düsseldorf in Germany with Prof. Joaquin Clerch, from which he graduated with highest honors. Later he studied with Professor Michael Lewin at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
