Pablo Márquez
The Argentinian guitarist Pablo Márquez is considered today as one of the most accomplished and versatile virtuosi of his instrument. Outstanding interpreter of contemporary music, who collaborates regularly with groups such as the Ensemble Intercontemporain, he is equally acclaimed for his passionated and equilibrated versions of the historical masterpieces as well as the Argentine traditional music.
He started his guitar studies at the age of 10, and three years later he gave his first performance with orchestra in Salta, the city in the Northwest of Argentina where he grew up and received his first training. He then studied in Buenos Aires with Jorge Martínez Zárate and Eduardo Fernández. His student period came brillanty to an end with the unanimous First prizes at the Villa-Lobos and Radio France international competitions in Rio de Janeiro and Paris respectively. Later prizes at the Geneva and Munich competitions confirmed his outstanding and rare artistry. A complete musician, he studied conducting with Eric Sobzyck, Rodolfo Fischer and Peter Eötvös, and followed the teaching of the legendary pianist György Sebök, who made on him the most profound and lasting impression.
His career evolves in more than 40 countries, being acclaimed at the most prestigious halls (e.g., Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires, Herkulessaal in Munich, Auditorio Reina Sofía in Madrid, National Recital Hall in Taipei, Théâtre du Châtelet and Philharmonie in Paris), as well as great festivals (e.g., Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Ultraschall in Berlin, Musica in Strasbourg, San Sebastián…). He established fruitful collaborations with musicians such as Anja Lechner, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Dino Saluzzi, Maria Cristina Kiehr, the Rosamunde Quartett of Munich and Mario Caroli. He is regularly invited to perform as a soloist with great orchestras and ensembles (e.g., Bayerische Rundfunk of Munich, Sinfonieorchester des WDR Köln, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne de Montreal, Plural Ensemble of Madrid, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia), under de baton of Susanna Mälkki, Dennis Russel Davies, Lorraine Vaillancourt, Josep Pons, Ernest Martínez Izquierdo, Christian Ehwald, Tomaz Golka, Mark Foster, Pavel Baleff, Jean-Michaël Lavoie, Fabián Panisello and others.
His continuous commitment to contemporary music has led to several first performances and to close collaborations with the greatest composers of our time such as Luciano Berio, György Kurtág
and Mauricio Kagel. Pierre Boulez invited him to play Berio’ Sequenza XI for the 70th birthday celebrations of the Italian composer. Zad Moultaka, Martín Matalón, Javier Torres Maldonado, Oscar Strasnoy, Arthur Kampela, Dino Saluzzi, Gualtiero Dazzi, Félix Ibarrondo, Ramón Lazkano, Ahmed Essyad, Fuminori Tanada and Atanas Ourkouzounov, among others, wrote pieces for him.
His discography – ECM New Series, Naïve and Kairos a.o – includes first recordings of pieces by Berio (Chemins V for guitar & orchestra), Francesconi (A Fuoco for guitar & ensemble), Moultaka (Hanbleceya for guitar & ensemble), Ibarrondo, Maresz, Mantovani and Cassadó, and has been awarded with the Grand Prix du Disque of the Académie Charles Cros, the italian Amadeus Prize, the RTL Classique d’Or, and were designed as Best Early Music recording by the Neue Musik Zeitung in Germany and Best Classical Music recording of the year by Readings in Australia. El Cuchi bien temperado, dedicated to the music of Gustavo Leguizamón, found a hugh resonance in the international press and was selected as one of the Best 100 Recordings of 2015 (all genres) by the american journalist Ted Gioia.
Pablo Márquez teaches at the Hochschule für Musik of Basel, and is one of the most sought-after personalities to give master-classes all around the world. He received in Buenos Aires the Konex Prize for his career and he is since 2006 Honorary Citizen of the City of Salta.