Rodrigo Vila

Born in Vigo (Spain) in 1977, Rodrigo Vila began his official musical studies at the Conservatory in his hometown when he was only 8. He continued his training, with scholarships from both the French Ministry of Education and the Pontevedra Provincial Council, at the Jacques Thibaud Conservatory in Bordeaux (France), and attended the renowned Saxophone International Class, where he was taught by the masters Jean-Marie Londeix and Marie- Bernardette Charrier. Along with his musical studies, he also took Philosophy and Musicology courses.

In 2001 he was unanimously awarded, with a special mention by the jury, the Medaille d’Honneur de la Ville de Bordeaux, in the saxophone category; the following year he received this same honorary medal, in the contemporary chamber music category. He has won the second prize at the International Music Competition of the Mediterranean, held in Cartagena (Spain), and the first prize at the Montserrat Alavedra Chamber Music Competition in Terrassa (Spain).

He is the saxophone professor at the Higher Music and Dance Conservatory of the Balearic Islands (Spain) since 2004. Throughout his academic career, his students have excelled, both individually and in different chamber groups, in the most renowned national and international music competitions. Since the Mallorca Saxophone Studio was created, this pedagogical project has won more than 45 awards, thus becoming one of the current models in saxophone teaching.

He has been invited several times to give master classes and lectures, or to perform in concerts at the Conservatories in Vienna, Bordeaux, Zurich, Basel, Cologne, Frankfurt, Rochester, Osaka, Beijing, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Lima, Havana, La Paz, Calgary, Natchitoches, Marquette, Conway, Changde, Osnabrück, Aveiro, Vigo, Alicante, Oviedo, Bilbao, Ibiza, Burgos and Santiago de Compostela. He is internationally recognized by his role as chair of the jury at the 5th International Saxophone Competition in Nantes (France), and being a jury member at the 4th International Jean-Marie Londeix Saxophone Competition held in Bangkok.

As a young performer and pedagogue, Rodrigo Vila is distinguished by his professionalism and modesty; despite his short but also intense professional career, he has already excelled in festivals such as the International Music Festival of the Mediterranean, the Saison Culturelle de Bordeaux (France), the Encontre Internacional de Compositors in Mallorca, the Deià International Music Festival, the Musicahora Festival in La Serena (Chile), the  La Mancha Music Festival, the “Classics in Summer” season organised by the Madrid Regional Government, the Quincena Musical de San Sebastián, the Contemporary Music Season by the CDMC, the Spanish Music Festival in Cadiz, the International Contemporary Music Festival of the Mediterranean in Alicante, the International Week of Spanish Chamber Music, and the Chamber Music Season of the Spanish National Auditorium. He has also performed with the Orchestre National Bordeaux-Aquitaine, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, the Balearic Islands’ Symphony Orchestra, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, the Madrid Orchestra, the Plural Ensemble and the ACA Ensemble, among others.

He has recorded for the national broadcasting networks France Television and Radio Televisión Española, as well as the public radio stations Catalunya Ràdio, Radio Galega and IB3 Ràdio. He is currently finalising the launch of this first solo album with the label Ona Digital.

Performers

Rodrigo Vila, saxophone
I-An Chen, piano

Programme

Wiwi Kuan: Traditional Taiwanese Song

Manuel de Falla: Siete Canciones populares Españolas
El paño moruno
Seguidilla murciana
Asturiana
Jota
Nana
Canción
Polo

Edison Denisov: Sonate pour saxophone alto et piano
I. Allegro
II. Lento
III. Allegro moderato