LL@L - Flores, Molina & Rodriguez
Vail Public Library Pacho Flores, trumpet - Héctor Molina, cuatro - Carlos Rodriguez, double bassFeatured Artists
Pacho Flores
Héctor Molina
Carlos Rodríguez
Rodrigo Duarte
Pacho Flores
trumpet
Pacho Flores was awarded First Prize in the Maurice André International Trumpet Competition, the most renowned trumpet contest in the world, as well as first prize in the Philip Jones International Brass Ensemble Competition, and first prize in the International Competition "Città di Porcia." Trained in the marvelous Orchestra System for Youth and Children in Venezuela, he received top recognition for his performances, recitals, and recordings as a soloist.
Capable of managing classical or popular styles indistinctively, Flores adds to his captivating interpretations a great deal of energy tinged with the most beautiful instrumental colors. Acting as soloist, he has performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Kiev, Camerata from St. Petersburg, Orchestral Ensemble from Paris, Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine, NHK Orchestra from Japan, Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo, Philharmonic Orchestra of Osaka, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra from Venezuela, Symphony Orchestra of Dusseldorf, and the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra amongst many others. He has also given recitals in concert halls such as the Carnegie Hall in New York, Pleyel Hall in Paris, and the Opera City in Tokyo.
Serving as one of the founding members of the Simón Bolívar Brass Quintet, he has taken part in numerous tours around Europe, South America, United States, and Japan. An experienced orchestral musician, Flores has held the leading trumpet position in the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Saito Kinen Orchestra from Japan, and the Symphony Orchestra of Miami under the musical direction of Maestros like Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Seiji Ozawa, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Rafael Frübeck of Burgos, Eduardo Marturet, Gustavo Dudamel, and many others.
Founding Director of the Latin-American Trumpet Academy in Venezuela, he fosters a promising generation of young talents. Flores is keen on promoting Contemporary Music and provides important contributions through the performance and interpretation of his instrument. His repertoire includes commissions and premieres of works by composers such as Roger Boutry, Efraín Oscher, Giancarlo Castro, Santiago Báez, Juan Carlos Nuñez, and Sergio Bernal. Recently he has carried out an important concert tour across Norway and Austria with the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Maestro and Composer Christian Lindberg, interpreting his concert Akbank Bunka, a piece for trumpet and orchestra, making his debut at the Fiestpielhaus of Salzburg, and at the Musikverein of Vienna. His first album La Trompeta Venezolana was released by the record label Guataca Producciones.
An artist from the Stomvi family, he plays instruments that have been exclusively manufactured for him by this renowned firm and is actively involved in the developments and innovations of his instruments. Pacho Flores is a Deutsche Grammophon exclusive artist with already three recordings, Cantar with Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin and Christian Vásquez; Entropía, Gold Medal of the Global Music Awards; Fractales with Arctic Philharmonic and Christian Lindberg; and the double CD-DVD Cantos y Revueltas with Real Filharmonía de Galicia and Manuel Hernández-Silva.
Héctor Molina
cuatro
Héctor Molina is an exceptional Venezuelan composer and cuatro player who earned the Bachelor of Music Degree in Composition from UNEARTE (Experimental University of the Arts) Venezuela. He began his musical studies in 1992 at the Fundación Coral Niños Cantores de Mérida, his hometown, where he participated first as a singer and later, in 1994, as a cuatro player. It is there where his interest in the guitar and the cuatro started, executing both instruments as a self-taught musician. With this group, he would participate in tours all over the country as well as an international tour that included Germany, Italy, and France. He undertook general music studies in the music school at the Universidad de los Andes, Mérida in 1996.
In 1997, he became a member of the Estudiantina de la Universidad de los Andes with which he participated in many national tours and two international tours: Colombia 1998 and France 1999. He then took part in the recording of his first album El Malmandao.
He has shared the stage with very acclaimed musicians like Cecilia Todd, Gualberto Ibarreto, Serenata Guayanesa, Gustavo Dudamel, Oscar D’ León, Carlos Vives, Guaco, Rafael “Pollo” Brito, Marta Gómez, Aquiles Báez, Cheo Hurtado, and Ilan Chester, along with the Symphony Orchestra of Mérida, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Municipal de Caracas, Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Carabobo Symphony, National Flute Orchestra, and Symphony Orchestra of Utah.
Since 2001, he has lived in Caracas where he joined the chamber music group, Multifonía, where he had the opportunity to take a deeper approach to the Venezuelan and universal chamber music repertoire from all times, allowing him to actively participate as a composer and and music arranger. He is a founder member of the Venezuelan music ensemble Los Sinvergüenzas. His work with Los Sinvergüenzas has already been included in four recording productions: Bichoneando (2001); Desde Otro Lugar (2007); Sinvergüenzuransas (2012); and Raíces (2013), winning a Pepsi Music Award in 2013 for Sinvergüenzuransas as the Best Traditional Instrumental Album. Additionally, he has participated in several tours, including Spain (2002 and 2006) and Colombia (2011) with great success. In 2011 and 2013, Los Sinvergüenzas performed as soloists with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela two concerts with their own compositions (Caracas, Venezuela).
In 2010 he won the second prize at the Composition Competition José Fernandez Rojas in Spain, with his work “Suite Latinoamericana” for Plectrum Orchestra.
Hector belongs to the C4 Trio along with Jorge Glem, Edward Ramirez, and Rodner Padilla. In 2006 they released their first album, C4 Trío, produced by one of the best Venezuelan traditional musicians, Aquiles Báez. This first album included a collaboration with Aquiles Báez himself and other great exponents of folk music in Venezuela like Serenata Guayanesa, Rafael “Pollo” Brito, Adolfo Herrera, and others. In a very short period, their first album obtained a Golden Disc. In 2005, the C4 Trío gained tremendous popularity as they performed in many important venues in Venezuela and abroad: the Venezuelan Sounds Festival (USA), Salisbury International Arts Festival (England), the Bolivar Hall in London, Berklee College of Music (USA), EXIB Música Évora 2016 (Portugal), Glatt & Verkehrt Festival (Austria), WOMEX World Music Expo 2016 (Spain), and music festivals in Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Canada. In 2009, the C4 Trío saw the release of their album Entre Manos. In 2011, the C4 Trío won an award at the 43rd “Torneo Internacional del Joropo" - the international contest for the folk music style Joropo that is traditionally played with a cuatro instrument. Their outstanding career is also recognized by the award “Premio Municipal de las Artes Aquiles Nazoa," a very important local award in the arts which is given in the city of Caracas, Venezuela. In 2012, they released their 3rd album Gualberto + C4 in collaboration with the acclaimed folk singer Gualberto Ibarreto. Later in 2013, they were recognized with three Pepsi Music Awards as Traditional Vocal Artist, Best Traditional Vocal Album, and Best Traditional Song. They were also nominated for the Latin Grammy awards for Best Folk Album.
They continued to amaze, impress and delight their audiences around the world and in 2014, and, after much hard work, they released the album De repente together with Rafael “Pollo” Brito. The ensemble and their album obtained a massive seven Pepsi Music Awards, including: Artist of the Year, Best Album of the Year, Best Collaboration of the Year, Best Traditional Vocal Album, Best Venezuelan Root Vocal Music, Best Venezuelan Gaita Song (“El Tresillo”) and Best Venezuelan Vocal Song (“Yo sin ti no valgo nada”). The same year, the C4 Trio together with Rafael “Pollo” Brito performed at the 15th Latin GRAMMY Awards premiere in Las Vegas, and their recording production, De Repente, was awarded a Latin GRAMMY for Best Engineered Album. In 2015 the band celebrated their 10th year lifework with the release of the special DVD #Los10DeC4, a compilation with the all-time great Venezuelan musicians: Oscar D’ León, Guaco, Desorden Público, Servando Primera, Cheo Hurtado, and Francisco Pacheco, among others. Furthermore, Héctor has participated with the ensemble in many tours including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and South America, beside many intense activities in the most important stages of Venezuela.
Besides the C4 Trio, he is also a member of Pomarrosa ensemble, having participated in the recording of their album Aguacero (2008). As a musician on Eddy Marcano Cuarteto Acústico, he has participated in many tours and international festivals in USA, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Germany, including performances at Carnegie Hall and Festival Villa Musica. He also took part in the recording of Live at Music of The Americas CD (2010) and Entre Compai’s DVD (2012).
Carlos Rodríguez
double bass
Carlos Rodríguez is a bassist, arranger, and composer from Venezuela.
He began his musical studies at the age of eight at the Antonio Estévez nucleo of El Sistema. At 10, he entered the double bass chair of this nucleo under the tutelage of maestro Héctor Araguainamo, with whom he studied classical and popular double bass.
In 2000, he was admitted by competition to the double bass section of the National Children's Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, performing concerts in the most important venues in his country, tackling repertoire of great scope and high level. In 2004, he was appointed director of the Antonio Estévez Children's and Youth Symphony Orchestra until 2005 when he auditioned for the Caracas Youth Symphony Orchestra, holding the principal double bass position for nine years and touring several countries in Europe and Asia.
In 2006, he was accepted into the Latin American Double Bass Academy to be part of Maestro Félix Petit's chair, later becoming part of the teaching staff of the Academy and of the Simón Bolívar Music Conservatory (2015-2019). He has received classes, masterclasses, and courses with different masters such as Anton Schachenhofer from the Linz Conservatory, Janusz Widzyk from the Berlin Philharmonic, Janne Saksala from the Berlin Philharmonic, Nabil Sheata, Klaus Stoll, Edicson Ruiz, among others.
Since 2008, he has served as a guest double bassist for the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, joining as a regular member in 2015, touring concert halls and festivals in Europe, Asia, the United States, and Latin America; and recording several albums with Deutsche Grammophon.
Carlos Rodríguez has been conducted by great directors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, Benjamin Sanders, Rodolfo Samglimbeni, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Alondra de la Parra, Raúl Delgado, Christian Vázquez, Rafael Payares, and Diego Matheuz. He has accompanied internationally renowned soloists such as Natalia Gutman, Daniel Baremboin, Augustin Hadelich, Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, William Molina, Alekséi Igudesman, Nemanya Radulovic, Edicson Ruíz, and Guy Braunstein.
In September 2019, he won the position of co-principal double bassist of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Coahuila Desert in Mexico, and in July 2022, he was invited to join the Impossible Orchestra in the first edition of the PAAX festival in Xcaret, Mexico.
Currently, Carlos Rodríguez is associate principal double bassist of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the School of Music and Dance of Monterrey and a member of the Sinfonica de Minería.
Rodrigo Duarte
percussion
Rodrigo Duarte, a member of the Sinfónica de Minería since 2004, specializes in Latin American Folk music. He has collaborated with ensembles like Nauhyotzin String Quartet and toured extensively in Latin America, Europe, and the United States with Signos Ensemble.
Program Highlights
- Pacho Flores, trumpet
- Héctor Molina, cuatro
- Carlos Rodriguez, double bass
- Rodrigo Duarte, percussion