FELIPE RODRIGUEZ - VIOLIN
“The Royal Philarmonic of Galicia offered a lesson in balance and neatness in conjunction with a genius of the violin, the extraordinarily young musician Felipe Rodriguez”, writes the critic of the “Diario de León” in 2004. Born in Salamanca, Spain, in 1982, he began his music studies at the age of 7 at the Music Conservatory of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, under the supervision of Elias Rodriguez, following on from there at the Conservatory of Cartagena with Prof. Katalin Pétrik, and finally in Madrid under the guidance of the Maestros José Luis Garcia Asensio and Vicente Huerta. He has received tutoring from violinists such as Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Mikhail Kopelman and Mauricio Fuks, among others.
In the sphere of Chamber Music, he has worked with virtuosos such as Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Luciano Berio, Walter Levine, Rainer Schmidt and Piero Farulli.
He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in the U.S.A., Germany, England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal and Spain.
He has given acclaimed recitals with the Orchestra of Spanish Radion and television, the Royal Philarmonic of Galicia, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Region of Murcia, and the “Freixenet” Chamber Music Orchestra of the Reina Sofia Music School and has delivered recitals at the National Music Auditorium (Madrid) and at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.
He has also made several recordings for SONY, the Spanish National Radio and the Spanish Television.
In his musical career he has accumulated awards at the “III Villa de Llanes” International Violinists Award (Asturias, 2001); the “Primer Palau” (Barcelona, 2000); the “Ciutat de Xátiva” National Competition for Young Soloists (Valencia, 2003); the “Festival International for Youth Orchestras” (Murcia, 1997); the “Ruperto Chapí” Award for Young Interpreters (Alicante, 1996); the “Guadamora” International Chamber Music Award (Córdoba, 2000); and the “Juventudes Musicales” Permanent Award for Chamber Music (Toledo, 1999).
In April 2004, Felipe Rodriguez was the maximum winner of the II “Joaquín Rodrigo” International Music Competition (Violin), where he was given the 1st Prize (by unanimity), the best J. Rodrigo Works Performance Prize and the Best Spanish of the Competition Prize.
He has been 4th clasificated in the “Tibor Varga” International Violinists Award 2004 (Switzerland).
F. Rodriguez has collaborated with the UBS Verbier Orchestra, under the supervision of maestros such as James Levine, Cristoph Von Danáhny and Yuri Temirkanov and with artists such as Barbara Hendricks, Thomas Quasthoff, Marta Argerich and Yuri Bashmet.
Of special note are the awards received from Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain to the best string quartet for 1998/99 and 1999/00 (Felipe Rodriguez, first violin) at the Music School bearing the Queen’s name.
During 2006-2007 was a member of the City of Birmingham symphony Orchestra.
Actually he combines his position of Leader of the Gulbenkian Orchestra (Lisboa, Portugal) with the "Arriaga" Trio and his performances as a soloist.
Felipe Rodríguez plays now with an exceptional italian violin by Luigi Fabris (Venezia, 1877), on loan by courtesy of Katariina & Risto Siirila.
