Spanish Guitarist Pablo Villegas Makes Debuts with Seven U.S. Orchestras – Including Pittsburgh, Fort Worth, San Antonio, & Oregon Symphonies – in 2014-15
“The beauty of the execution, the musical rigor, and the elegance of
this young guitarist’s phrasing are those of the chosen few.” – ABC, Spain
Spanish guitarist Pablo Villegas – whose international competition wins include the Andrés Segovia Award and Gold Medal at the inaugural Parkening International Guitar Competition – steps up his American presence this season, making debuts with no fewer than seven U.S. orchestras. For his first appearances with ensembles including the Pittsburgh, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Oregon Symphonies, the guitarist plays Rodrigo’s soulful Concierto de Aranjuez, a signature work that also serves as the vehicle for his upcoming collaborations with Spain’s National Radio & Television and its National Youth Orchestra, and is featured on his forthcoming recording with the National Orchestra of Spain. In recital, meanwhile, Villegas – an “exceptional and gifted performer” (Classical Guitar magazine) – appears at Carnegie Hall, the New York City Classical Guitar Society, the Guitar Foundation of America Convention, Puerto Rico’s Festival Casals, and Italy’s Merano Festival, as well as in duet recitals with violinist Augustin Hadelich at Indiana’s Linton Music Series and Germany’s Rheingau Music Festival.
The guitarist’s account of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Las Vegas Philharmonic was rapturously received last spring. “An astonishing talent took the stage,” reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which concluded:
“Words do not do justice to the musicianship, artistry, and technical mastery Villegas brought to the Smith Center on Saturday. The audience was spellbound, and when the final chord was played it erupted into enthusiastic applause.”
Now Villegas performs the concerto for his six of his seven upcoming orchestral debuts, the first of which is with the Pittsburgh Symphony under the leadership of Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber (Oct 10–12).
“The Concierto de Aranjuez is rooted in the culture and music of my country, Spain. It is an extension of who I am as a person and as a musician. I am very excited to play this concerto, one of the most iconic Spanish pieces, with so many wonderful American orchestras, beginning with the Pittsburgh Symphony, one of the country’s – indeed the world’s – top ensembles. The Concierto de Aranjuez allows me to invite the audience to participate in the passion, beauty and fire of Spain. I fell in love with America many years ago, and living in New York City for almost 12 years has sealed a bond with the country that I’m sure will only grow throughout my career,” comments the guitarist.
Villegas reprises the Concierto de Aranjuez for his first appearances with the Oregon Symphony and music director Carlos Kalmar (Oct 25–27), the Fort Worth Symphony and music director Miguel Harth-Bedoya (Feb 13–15), the San Antonio Symphony under Pedro Halffter (April 10–12), the Binghamton Philharmonic under José-Luis Novo (April 18), and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic under Josep Caballé Domenech, where Villegas pairs Rodrigo’s masterpiece with another Spanish favorite: Palomo’s Nocturnos de Andalucía (Jan 24 & 25). For his seventh U.S. orchestral debut, with Texas’s Amarillo Symphony and Jacomo Rafael Bairos (Oct 17 & 18), the guitarist turns instead to Fantasía para un gentilhombre, another of the three Rodrigo classics for guitar and orchestra that he is recording for future CD release with the National Orchestra of Spain and Juanjo Mena.
The first guitarist to win El Ojo Crítico, Spain’s top classical music honor, Villegas first recorded the Concierto de Aranjuez twelve years ago, with his homeland’s National Radio & Television Orchestra (RTVE). Now he looks forward to reuniting with the orchestra to give two performances of Rodrigo’s concerto with Carlos Kalmar on the podium in Madrid (April 23 & 24), as well as taking the work on a three-city tour of Spain with the National Youth Orchestra of Spain under José Ramón Encinar (Jan 10–13).
It was in solo recital that Villegas prompted the San Francisco Classical Voice to observe:
“He stirred an enthusiastic audience with passionate romantic interpretations, bravura technique, and an unusually wide dynamic range. The subtlety, passion, technical command, and dramatic flair that Villegas displayed made an evening to be remembered.”
In the coming season the charismatic guitarist also enjoys an increased U.S. presence in recital, with solo performances at the 13th annual Classical Recording Foundation Awards at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (Nov 24), the New York City Classical Guitar Society (June 5), the Little Orchestra Society of New York (Oct 6), and the annual Guitar Foundation of America Convention in Oklahoma (June 23–28). Further afield, he presents a program of Villa-Lobos, Rodrigo, De Falla, Albéniz, Gerhard, Barrios Mangoré, and Domeniconi at the Merano Festival in Italy (Sep 20) and gives a pair of solo recitals at the Festival Casals in San Juan and St. John (March 11 & 14).
Villegas also takes part in “Strings of Passion” at the Linton Music Series in Indiana (Nov 30), playing solo works by Rodrigo and Roland Dyens and rejoining German violinist Augustin Hadelich for Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango, as heard on their Avie Records collaboration – named a “must-hear album” (NPR) – and at their recent Kennedy Center debut, when “guitar and violin proved to be a wonderful pairing…, Villegas’s warm, easy sound complementing Hadelich’s timbre” (Washington Post).
As Cultural Ambassador to the Vivanco Foundation and its Museum of Wine Culture in Rioja, his native city, Villegas conducts an education program on April 25. He also continues to preside over the Music Without Borders Legacy, which he founded in 2007 to bring music and art to at-risk children and youth; the foundation has succeeded in bringing classical music to more than 15,000 children to date, and currently funds six different music programs in schools in Tijuana, Mexico.
Details of Pablo Villegas’s 2014-15 engagements are provided below. More information is available at his web site www.pablovillegas.com, which will be relaunched later this season with new designs by web designer Fernando Hernáez.
Pablo Villegas: 2014-15 engagements
Sep 20
Merano, Italy
Merano Festival
Solo recital: Villa-Lobos: Preludes 1 & 3; Rodrigo: Invocation and Dance; De Falla: Homenaje pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy; Albéniz: Asturias Op. 47; Gerhard: Fantasia for guitar; Barrios Mangoré: Danza Paraguaya No. 1, Un sueño en la Floresta; Domeniconi: Koyunbaba
Oct 6
New York, NY
Little Orchestra Society of New York
Fundraising Gala
Solo recital
Oct 10, 11 & 12
Pittsburgh, PA. USA
Heinz Hall
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra / Omer Meir Wellber (debut)
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Oct 17 & 18
Amarillo, TX
Amarillo Symphony Orchestra / Jacomo Rafael Bairos (debut)
Rodrigo: Fantasía para un gentilhombre
Oct 25, 26 & 27
Portland, OR
Oregon Symphony / Carlos Kalmar (debut)
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Nov 24
New York City, NY
Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall)
Classical Recording Foundation Awards
Nov 30
Linton, IN
Linton Music Series
Duo recital with Augustin Hadelich, violin
Dyens: Tango en Skaï for solo guitar
Rodrigo: Invocación y danza for solo guitar
Piazzolla: Histoire du Tango for violin and guitar
Dec 8,9 & 10
La Rioja, Spain
Conservatorio de La Rioja
Masterclasses
Dec 11
La Rioja, Spain
Riojaforum
Solo recital
Jan 10 & 11
Zaragoza, Spain
National Youth Orchestra of Spain / José Ramón Encinar
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Jan 12
Madrid, Spain
National Auditorium
National Youth Orchestra of Spain / José Ramón Encinar
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Jan 13
Málaga, Spain
National Youth Orchestra of Spain / José Ramón Encinar
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Jan 24 & 25
Colorado Springs, CO
Colorado Springs Philharmonic / Josep Caballé Domenech (debut)
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Palomo: Nocturnos de Andalucía
Feb 13, 14 & 15
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra / Miguel Harth-Bedoya (debut)
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
March 11
San Juan, PR
Festival Casals
Solo recital
March 14
St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Festival Casals
Solo recital
April 10, 11 & 12
San Antonio, TX
San Antonio Symphony / Pedro Halffter (debut)
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
April 18
Binghamton, NY
Binghamton Philharmonic / José-Luis Novo (debut)
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
April 23 & 24
Madrid, Spain
Teatro Monumental
National Radio & Television Orchestra (RTVE) / Carlos Kalmar
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
April 25 (TBC)
La Rioja, Spain
Vivanco Winery and Museum
Education Program
June 5
New York, NY
New York City Classical Guitar Society
Solo recital
June 23–28
Oklahoma City, OK
Guitar Foundation of America Convention
Solo recital
Aug 28 & 29
Rheingau, Germany
Rheingau Music Festival
Duo recital with Augustin Hadelich, violin
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