Pablo Villegas
“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.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
The soul of the Spanish guitar runs in Pablo Villegas’s blood. Born and raised in La Rioja, Spain — the country with unique and deep ties to his chosen instrument — Villegas is distinguished by performances as charismatic as they are intimate. With his singing tone and consummate technique, his interpretations conjure the passion, playfulness and drama of his homeland’s rich musical heritage, routinely drawing comparisons with such legendary exponents of his instrument as Andrés Segovia.
Indeed, at just 15 he won the Andrés Segovia Award, launching a succession of international wins that include Gold Medal at the inaugural Christopher Parkening International Guitar Competition. The first guitarist to win El Ojo Crítico, Spain’s top classical music honor, Villegas also became the youngest of his generation to appear with the New York Philharmonic, in an auspicious debut under the late Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at Avery Fisher Hall. He has since performed for both the Dalai Lama and the Spanish royal family, and it was he who gave the world premiere of Rounds, the first composition for guitar by five-time Academy Award-winner John Williams. A born communicator, the guitarist explains: “Music is a social tool, and opening people’s hearts, and helping them connect to the inner life of the emotions, is my mission.”
Villegas enjoys an increased 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, he plays Rodrigo’s soul-stirring Concierto de Aranjuez, a signature work that also serves as the vehicle for his collaboration with Spain’s National Radio & Television Orchestra (RTVE), and the centerpiece of his forthcoming recording with the National Orchestra of Spain. In recital, he 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 with violinist Augustin Hadelich at Indiana’s Linton Music Series and Germany’s Rheingau Music Festival.
Known for sound so rich and full that it does not need amplification, Villegas’s concerto collaborations regularly inspire immediate reengagements. Since making his international breakthrough after his triumphs at the 2005 Tárrega Competition and 2006 Parkening Competition, he has appeared with orchestras in more than 30 countries, including the New York, Los Angeles and Israel Philharmonics, and the Boston, San Francisco, Houston and Toronto Symphonies. He made a series of important debuts under the baton of the late Frühbeck de Burgos, and has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with conductors including George Crumb, Giancarlo Guerrero, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Carlos Kalmar, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Helmut Lachenmann, Juanjo Mena and Alondra de la Parra.
Last season, Villegas’s concerto highlights included warmly praised appearances with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, National Orchestra of Lyon, Copenhagen Philharmonic, and the Bilbao, Royal Seville and Puerto Rico Symphonies. An avid recitalist, he also toured France and Japan, besides undertaking an eight-concert European tour with the Philharmonia of the Nations Orchestra. For his debuts at Washington’s Kennedy Center and the Aspen Music Festival, he premiered “Tango, Song and Dance,” an innovative and well-received multimedia program, with Augustin Hadelich and pianist Joyce Yang.
Dedicated to expanding the guitar’s repertory and audience, Villegas is an ardent champion of new music. Besides John Williams, whose Rounds he premiered at the 2012 Parkening Competition in Malibu, he has worked closely with contemporary composers including Sérgio Assad, of whose Concerto of Rio de Janeiro, written for and dedicated to Villegas, he gave the world and European premieres at the Guitar Foundation of America Convention and Cordoba Guitar Festival. He has also given first performances of works by Maria Dolores, and looks forward to premiering a new concerto by Lorenzo Palomo in the 2016-2017 season.
An active recording artist, Villegas has two new releases pending. On his forthcoming solo album, Americano, he explores the multiple guitar traditions of the New World, from tango to bluegrass by way of John Williams. And, as the first in more than 20 years to record Concierto de Aranjuez with the National Orchestra of Spain, he plays that and two other Rodrigo concertos on their upcoming recording. Previous releases include Histoire du Tango, a collection of violin-guitar works with Augustin Hadelich for the AVIE label, and Manuel Ponce’s Concierto del sur, a platinum title that he recorded with Alondra de la Parra for Sony Classical. Besides inspiring rapturous reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, Villegas has been featured on Spain’s national television and radio, and in such leading Spanish outlets as El Mundo. His U.S. coverage includes interviews on Fox 5, WQXR, and other local stations, and a cover story in Classical Guitar magazine.
In 2007 Villegas founded the Music Without Borders Legacy (MWBL), a non-profit organization that seeks to bridge cultural, social, and political boundaries through classical music. Since its inception, the foundation has reached more than 15,000 at-risk children and youth around the world, through music programs in the United States, Mexico and Spain, and is now supported by La Caixa Bank. Villegas also serves as cultural ambassador to La Rioja’s Vivanco Foundation and its Museum of Wine Culture, considered the most prestigious wine museum in the world.
Born in 1977 in La Rioja in Northern Spain, Villegas was inspired to take guitar lessons after seeing Segovia on television. He gave his first public performance at just seven years old, and went on to graduate at the top of his class at the Royal Conservatoire in Madrid. After several years in Germany, in 2001 he relocated to New York City, where he studied for his master’s and doctorate with David Starobin at the Manhattan School of Music, and where he lives to this day.
The soul of the Spanish guitar runs in Pablo Villegas’s blood. Born and raised in La Rioja, Spain — the country with unique and deep ties to his chosen instrument — Villegas is distinguished by performances as charismatic as they are intimate. With his singing tone and consummate technique, his interpretations conjure the passion, playfulness and drama of his homeland’s rich musical heritage, routinely drawing comparisons with such legendary exponents of his instrument as Andrés Segovia.
Indeed, at just 15 he won the Andrés Segovia Award, launching a succession of international wins that include Gold Medal at the inaugural Christopher Parkening International Guitar Competition. The first guitarist to win El Ojo Crítico, Spain’s top classical music honor, Villegas also became the youngest of his generation to appear with the New York Philharmonic, in an auspicious debut under the late Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at Avery Fisher Hall. He has since performed for both the Dalai Lama and the Spanish royal family, and it was he who gave the world premiere of Rounds, the first composition for guitar by five-time Academy Award-winner John Williams. A born communicator, the guitarist explains: “Music is a social tool, and opening people’s hearts, and helping them connect to the inner life of the emotions, is my mission.”
Villegas enjoys an increased 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, he plays Rodrigo’s soul-stirring Concierto de Aranjuez, a signature work that also serves as the vehicle for his collaboration with Spain’s National Radio & Television Orchestra (RTVE), and the centerpiece of his forthcoming recording with the National Orchestra of Spain. In recital, he 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 with violinist Augustin Hadelich at Indiana’s Linton Music Series and Germany’s Rheingau Music Festival.
Known for sound so rich and full that it does not need amplification, Villegas’s concerto collaborations regularly inspire immediate reengagements. Since making his international breakthrough after his triumphs at the 2005 Tárrega Competition and 2006 Parkening Competition, he has appeared with orchestras in more than 30 countries, including the New York, Los Angeles and Israel Philharmonics, and the Boston, San Francisco, Houston and Toronto Symphonies. He made a series of important debuts under the baton of the late Frühbeck de Burgos, and has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with conductors including George Crumb, Giancarlo Guerrero, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Carlos Kalmar, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Helmut Lachenmann, Juanjo Mena and Alondra de la Parra.
Last season, Villegas’s concerto highlights included warmly praised appearances with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, National Orchestra of Lyon, Copenhagen Philharmonic, and the Bilbao, Royal Seville and Puerto Rico Symphonies. An avid recitalist, he also toured France and Japan, besides undertaking an eight-concert European tour with the Philharmonia of the Nations Orchestra. For his debuts at Washington’s Kennedy Center and the Aspen Music Festival, he premiered “Tango, Song and Dance,” an innovative and well-received multimedia program, with Augustin Hadelich and pianist Joyce Yang.
Dedicated to expanding the guitar’s repertory and audience, Villegas is an ardent champion of new music. Besides John Williams, whose Rounds he premiered at the 2012 Parkening Competition in Malibu, he has worked closely with contemporary composers including Sérgio Assad, of whose Concerto of Rio de Janeiro, written for and dedicated to Villegas, he gave the world and European premieres at the Guitar Foundation of America Convention and Cordoba Guitar Festival. He has also given first performances of works by Maria Dolores, and looks forward to premiering a new concerto by Lorenzo Palomo in the 2016-2017 season.
An active recording artist, Villegas has two new releases pending. On his forthcoming solo album, Americano, he explores the multiple guitar traditions of the New World, from tango to bluegrass by way of John Williams. And, as the first in more than 20 years to record Concierto de Aranjuez with the National Orchestra of Spain, he plays that and two other Rodrigo concertos on their upcoming recording. Previous releases include Histoire du Tango, a collection of violin-guitar works with Augustin Hadelich for the AVIE label, and Manuel Ponce’s Concierto del sur, a platinum title that he recorded with Alondra de la Parra for Sony Classical. Besides inspiring rapturous reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, Villegas has been featured on Spain’s national television and radio, and in such leading Spanish outlets as El Mundo. His U.S. coverage includes interviews on Fox 5, WQXR, and other local stations, and a cover story in Classical Guitar magazine.
In 2007 Villegas founded the Music Without Borders Legacy (MWBL), a non-profit organization that seeks to bridge cultural, social, and political boundaries through classical music. Since its inception, the foundation has reached more than 15,000 at-risk children and youth around the world, through music programs in the United States, Mexico and Spain, and is now supported by La Caixa Bank. Villegas also serves as cultural ambassador to La Rioja’s Vivanco Foundation and its Museum of Wine Culture, considered the most prestigious wine museum in the world.
Born in 1977 in La Rioja in Northern Spain, Villegas was inspired to take guitar lessons after seeing Segovia on television. He gave his first public performance at just seven years old, and went on to graduate at the top of his class at the Royal Conservatoire in Madrid. After several years in Germany, in 2001 he relocated to New York City, where he studied for his master’s and doctorate with David Starobin at the Manhattan School of Music, and where he lives to this day.