Sonata by
Antonio José
I
Allegro moderato 0:39
II Minueto 7:02
III Pavana Triste.
Lento 11:40
IV.
Final. Allegro con brio 16:47
About JOSÉ ANTONIO ESCOBAR - Guitarist
“
...The mastery, intelligence and sound of
José Antonio on such diverse pieces undoubtedly position him among the outstanding guitarists of our time.“ (Le
Cahiers de la Guitare,
Paris,
2002)
“
Finally José Antonio
Escobar gave us Villa-Lobos’ 12
Etudes, demonstrating that he is one of the finest young players to have emerged from
South America in recent years” (
Robert Matthew-Walker,
Musical Opinion,
London, May 2007).
“Escobar is an expressive, mature artist who has transcended the nitty-gritty of technique and gets to the essence of the music.” (
Jeffrey Rossman,
Classical Voice of
North Carolina, 2008).
“
Guitar aficionados need to hear Escobar’s absolutely stunning playing.” (Göran Forsling, MusicWeb
International, 2008)
"I cannot and should not miss the opportunity to speak in favor of one of the most remarkable
musicians devoting their talent to the guitar. His name is José Antonio Escobar..." (
Angelo Gilardino, Suonare
Magazine,
Italy,
2012)
José Antonio Escobar (b.
1973), was born in
Santiago de Chile, where he graduated with Top Honors after studying at the
Conservatory of Music-University of
Chile. Immediately after graduating, he continued to perfect his studies at the
Hochschule für Musik in
Augsburg, Germany with
Franz Halasz.
Under the influence of his first master, the lutenist
Ernesto Quezada, he became deeply interested in original ancient instruments from the guitar family. This motivated him to round out his studies by attending
Early Music courses and master classes with renowned specialists such as
Hopkinson Smith,
Eduardo Egüez, and
Juan Carlos Rivera.
While he is greatly interested in ancient music, he has always felt at home when interpreting
20th Century or contemporary music. This has led him to commission, premiere and record works by renowned composers as well as
Chilean composers, in particular. He has also devoted some time to studying and interpreting music with popular and folk influences from
Latin America. In this regard, he has worked in various projects both as a soloist and as part of Dúo
Sudamericano, along with
Javier Contreras, an outstanding Chilean composer and guitarist.
Throughout a period encompassing almost 10 years, he obtained more than fifteen prizes in the most prestigious International Guitar Competitions today, such as
Francisco Tárrega (
Spain),
Alessandria (Italy),
Alhambra (Spain),
Guitar Foundation of America (
USA),
Julian Arcas (Spain),
Karl Sheit (
Austria), among many others.
As a soloist and chamber musician he has toured over 30 countries, covering almost all of
Europe and the
Americas, as well as some
North African countries, the
Near East,
Asia and
Oceania. He has also performed as a soloist with distinguished orchestras, namely Orquesta de
Extremadura (Spain),
Orchestra Filarmonica di
Torino (Italy),
St. Michel Strings (
Finland),
Hofer Symphoniker (
Germany), and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile. He has also debuted in major concert halls such as the Brahms-Saal at the
Vienna Musikverein, the
Purcell Room at the
Southbank Centre in
London, the
Herbst Theatre in
San Francisco,
Sala Cecilia Meireles in
Rio de Janeiro,
Teatro Monumental in
Madrid,
Teatro Teresa Carreño in
Caracas, etc.
He has completed several recordings under the NAXOS and
RTVE labels, receiving excellent reviews from specialized media. He has also worked on several independent recordings both as an artist and producer. He is currently living in
Barcelona, and he is constantly invited to not only perform at recitals but also share his expertise by giving master classes and lectures at major music festivals, courses, seminars and workshops in prestigious universities around Europe and the Americas.
Guitar:
Simon Marty (
2001)
JAE Websites:
http://www.joseantonioescobar.cl/ or https://www.facebook.com/joseantonioguitarist
- published: 08 Oct 2014
- views: 5031