BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – This year, accomplished musicians from Colombia’s leading orchestras will join the roster of international artists performing in the II Cartagena International Festival of Music January 5-12. Among the artists who will be performing will be: violinist soloist, Angélica Gámez and David Alonso Arboleda, trombone; Javier Cáceres, piccolo; Giovanni Scarpetta, trombone; Bibiana Ordoñez, harp; Sandra Duque, contrabassoon; Mario Alberto Sarmiento, percussion and Alejandro Ruiz, percussion who will be performing with I Musici de Montreal Chamber Orchestra during the festival.
“With the initial success, and now on-going Cartagena International Festival of Music, one of our major aims will be to involve distinguished Colombian musicians in the festival program,” says Artistic Director, Charles Wadsworth. “We are of course, pleased to announce that nine outstanding Colombian artists will be performing with us this year for the first time including, violin soloist, Angélica Gámez. The remarkable I Musici de Montreal Chamber Orchestra will be augmented by very talented musicians from Colombia resulting in a full chamber orchestra for audiences to enjoy. I look forward with tremendous excitement to returning again to Cartagena in January for another wonderful festival week,” says Wadsworth.
Angélica Gámez, violin
Born in Bogotá, Angélica Gámez began her studies at the music school of the Youth Symphony Orchestra. From 1991 – 1993 she participated in the Youth World Musical Orchestra as a representative of Colombia. In 1994 she won the Mazda Young Musician Award and then went on to study as scholarship fellow from the Mazda Foundation in the Fine Arts Department of the University Mozarateum in Salzburg. It was here that she studied with masters Helmut Zehetmeir and Skow Larsen Lavard. During this time she was also a member of the soloists’ orchestra in Salzburg and performed with Mozarteum as first violinist and the Erasmus Orchestra in Lyon, France.
In 2002, Gámez won the Young Interpreters Competition of the Colombia Symphony Orchestra and the Bogota Philharmonic. That same year she won first prize and honorable mention in the advanced violin competition, sponsored by Banco de la República.
Miss Gámez was the only Colombian artist invited to participate in the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan in 2004. Here she had the opportunity to meet masters Valerly Gergiev, Favio Luissi and members of world renowned orchestras from Vienna, Berlin, Chicago and the Philadelphia Philharmonic. She has performed with the Bogota Philharmonic for ten years.
David Alonso Arboleda, trombone
David Alonso Arboleda began his musical studies at the Red de Escuelas de Musica de Medellín (Medellín network of music schools). In 2002, he enrolled in the Universidad de Antioquia as a trombone student with Luz Amparo Mosquera and Leonardo Pabón. That same year he was invited to the Orquesta de las Juventudes Andinas CAF (CAF Andean Youth Orchestra).
In 2003, he joined the Universidad EAFIT Symphonic Orchestra, where he is currently performing as a low trombone. Mr. Arboleda has been an invited guest artist with the Colombia National Symphonic Orchestra, the Universidad de Antioquia Symphony Band, among others. Arboleda has participated in seminars with Venezuelan artists, Freddy Padrón and Obeed Josué Rodríquez, and Colombian artist, Rubén Rodríguez. He is currently professor of trombone at the Red de Escuelas de Música de Medellín.
Javier Cáceres, flute
Born in Tunja, Colombia, in 1975, Javier Cáceres began his musical studies at the Escuela Superior de Música (Superior School of Music) in his hometown where he studied flute under the tutoring of Oscar Álvarez Henao. He continued his professional studies at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogotá with Fabio Londoño, earning a degree as Maestro in Music in 2001.
Mr. Carreño has been Flutist with the Sinfónica de Vientos de Boyacá (Boyacá Wind Instrument Orchestra), the Banda Sinfónica Juvenil de Cundinamarca (Cundinamarca Young People Symphonic Band), the Orquesta Filarmónica de Cundinamarca (Cundinamarca Philharmonic Orchestra), and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia (National Symphonic Orchestra of Colombia).
He has attended course lectures with internationally renowned maestros such as Gabriel Ahumada, Gaspar Hoyos, William Benett, Tadeu Coelho and Paula Robison, among others. He currently is a member of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, and is the full-time professor of flute at the Universidad de Cundinamarca.
Sandra Duque, contrabassoon
Sandra Duque was born in Manizales, Colombia in 1973 where she completed her music training earning a Bachelor’s degree in Music. She majored in flute and was part of several symphonic and Colombian folklore groups.
She later moved to Bogotá where she obtained her degree with merits in bassoon at the National University of Colombia under Professor Siegried Miklin. She has been a featured soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota, the National Symphonic Band and the Philharmonic Orchestra from Valle in Colombia. Hurtado currently plays the bassoon and the contrabassoon at the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogotá and is a member of the “Molto Stacatto” quartet and “Tres Cuartos”. Miss Hurtado has been invited to perform as a bassoonist with many orchestras throughout Colombia and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Buenos Aires, where she studied with Professor Andrea Merenzón, with whom she performed recitals throughout Buenos Aires.
Bibiana Ordoñez, harp
Bibiana Ordoñez studied harp with María Grozdanova at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, where she was awarded a degree in harp in 1998. She continued her studies in Oviedo (Spain) with a scholarship provided by Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (Spanish International Cooperation Agency). She enrolled in the Conservatoire Superieur Regional de Paris (Regional Superior Conservatory of Paris) in 1999, where she studied with Madame Brigitte Sylvestre. In 2002, she was awarded her first “Premier Prix de Harpe” (First Harp Award), sponsored by the Carolina Oramás scholarship. She later enrolled in the improvement level at “L’Ecole National de Musique” in Bobigny, and joined the Department of Orchestra of the Conservatoire Superieur de Paris.
Miss Ordoñez participated in the Encuentros Latinoamericanos de Arpa (Latin American Harp Sessions) in México and Venezuela. She was invited as a soloist and orchestra musician by the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. In France, she has performed with 2e2m contemporary music ensemble and at the International Percussion Festival in Paris. She has performed at the Auditorio León De Greiff and Sala de Conciertos de la Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango in Colombia. Ordoñez has also participated in a number of orchestras in Chile and Colombia.
Giovanni Scarpetta, trombone
Giovanni Scarpetta began trombone studies with his uncle, Germán Díaz, and theory studies with his grandfather, Luis María Díaz, at the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Colombia (Young People’s Orchestra of Colombia). Between 1996 and 1997, he studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Mozarteum,” in Salzburg, Austria, with Friedrich Unterberge. He has worked with the following musicians: Germán Díaz, Scott Terry, David Loyd, Sebastien Larrere, Jacques Mauger, Gaspar Licciardone, Domingo Pagliuca and Pablo Fenoglio, among others.
In 1992, 1997, 1999 and 2000, Díaz won the Colcultura “Roberto Mantilla” contest for young performers; in 1997, the Banco de la República (Central Bank) “Lunes de Jóvenes Intérpretes” “(Young Performers’ Mondays);” in 1996 and in 1999, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá (Bogotá’s Philharmonic Orchestra) contest for young performers.
He was invited to the Hochschule Orchester, Universitätsorchester Salzburg, Pro Musica Salzburg, Orchester der Kirchenmusik Teissendof, and the Kammerorchester Salzburg Kammervirtuosen. He was a member of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá from 1994 to 2003 and has been a member of the 37-42B quartet for brass instruments, quintet for brass instruments of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia (Symphonic Orchestra of Colombia), quintet for brass instruments of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Santafé de Bogotá quartet of trombones, and the Colombian Quartet of Trombones. In August 2007, Díaz participated in the “Trombonanza” festival in Santa Fe, Argentina.
Mr. Díaz has been a professor at Universidad Javeriana, Universidad Central, Universidad de Caldas, Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Colombia, and Fundación Batuta.
Since 2003 and to the present, he has been group head and principal trombone of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia.
Alejandro Ruiz, percussion
Alejandro Ruiz began his musical studies at the Universidad de Antioquia and obtained a degree in Symphonic Percussion at Universidad EAFIT. He has taken course lectures with Michael Burritt, Anders Astrand, James Ros and Nick Woud, among others.
Mr. Ruiz has been a member of the following orchestras: EAFIT Symphonic Orchestra, Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Young People's Symphonic Orchestra, Valle Philharmonic and the Colombia Symphonic Orchestras. He also participated in two national tours of the Tango Ballet de Colombia Company (1999, 2003) and was a member of the percussion ensemble of Universidad EAFIT. Ruiz has given marimba and vibraphone recitals, and participated in numerous record productions. In addition, he has performed as a soloist with the EAFIT Symphonic Orchestra and the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra.
He is currently full professor of EAFIT, an active member of P.A.S. (Percussive Arts Society), and member of the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mario Alberto Sarmiento, percussion
A specialist in repertoire for solo percussion and contemporary music, Mario Alberto Sarmiento has been a member of the Percussive Art Society, Colombian Association of Art Schools and Programs and ACOFARTES, among others. He received First Prize for Academic Music from the Instituto Distrital de Cultura y Turismo (District’s Culture and Tourism Institute) in 2003 and the Premier Percussion Prix, Concourses Centralises, Paris (1998).
He is currently the Director of the Music Conservatory of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Colombian National University).
“The Colombian artists performing with I Musici de Montreal during the Cartagena International Festival of Music this year are distinguished musicians who bring a high level of professionalism and expertise to their performances,” says Sandra Meluk, music director, Salvi Foundation – Colombia. “We are proud that they will be joining the roster of this year’s festival – they are wonderful cultural “ambassadors” for Colombia.”
For more information about the 2008 Cartagena International Festival of Music including, the complete program please visit: www.cartagenamusicfestival.com
Editor’s Note: Digital images of the artists and festival venues are available upon request.
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