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Oskar
Espina Ruiz |
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| 2007-2008 Season
performances at Treetops CMS |
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OCTOBER 13,
14
Sat at 6 pm &
Sun at 4 pm |
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SPAIN,
WITH DAVID GEBER AND FRIENDS
Details |
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APRIL 26, 27
Sat at 6 pm &
Sun at 4 pm |
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SHANGHAI
QUARTET
Details |
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The vibrant clarinetist Oskar Espina
Ruiz has established an international reputation
as a highly expressive and virtuoso artist with a
strong personal voice that can communicate across
cultures and generations. Charles Neidich, with
whom he studied in New York City for over ten
years, calls Espina Ruiz “an unusually
gifted musician who has already made a mark in
the musical world and is becoming one of the most
distinguished clarinetists in the US.”
Espina Ruiz was discovered in Spain by visiting
American conductor John Giordano who called him
“a real talent!” Soon after Espina
Ruiz’s arrival in New York City, Richard
Stoltzman wrote: “Bravo! You are and have
the kind of energy the music world needs.”
Over the last few seasons Oskar Espina Ruiz has
dazzled audiences at some of the most prestigious
stages worldwide, including concerto performances
at the Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg,
Russia, and recitals at Carnegie’s Weill
Hall in New York, the Corcoran Museum in
Washington DC, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Oji
Hall in Tokyo, the Madrid Royal Superior
Conservatory, the Beijing and Shanghai
Conservatories and Radio Television Hong Kong.
He has appeared as soloist with the St.
Petersburg State Academic Symphony, St.
Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, Orquesta
Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Asunción and Bilbao
Symphony.
The Russian press has described his concerto
performance as “highly expressive, perfect
in all the details and virtuosically
executed.” The Japanese press has
highlighted his “extremely advanced
technique and passion.” The Costa Rican
press has called him a “masterful
soloist” and the Paraguayan press has
written: “Through bewitching vibrancy and
expressiveness Oskar Espina Ruiz brings forth the
notes with an energy that reaches down to one's
soul.”
He is in great demand as guest artist at numerous
universities and conservatories in the US, China,
South America and Spain and has taught at summer
festivals in Spain since 1994.
In 2006, Espina Ruiz’s commitment to chamber
music led him to founding the Treetops Chamber
Music Society, in Stamford, CT, where he has
collaborated with the Shanghai Quartet, Cellist
David Geber and other international artists. He
is also the founder of the J. C. Arriaga Chamber
Music Competition. From 1995-2000 he was a member
of the Ernach Trio, offering numerous chamber
music concerts in Spain, and has performed in
chamber music concerts throughout European
capitals as a member of the European Mozart
Academy.
He is deeply involved with the music of our time
and has premiered works written for him by
Chinese composers Ao, Hu and Chen, Spanish
composers Bageneta and Villasol, and French
composer Gaigne. Recently he toured with a
program of works for clarinet solo written in the
last decade. He has also composed several chamber
music works, which were premiered in New York. In
February 2008 he gave the world premier
performance of D. Weymouth’s Clarinet
Quintet, with the Chamber Music Society Two
member Escher String Quartet, at the “Stony
Brook Premiers!” contemporary music
festival.
Espina Ruiz has become the leading expert in the
field of Spanish-Basque classical music. His
research and adaptations have brought important
works into the clarinet repertoire, including
Ravel’s Sonate Posthume, works by Arriaga
and Falla, and his orchestration of the Menéndez
Clarinet Concerto No. 2. His research has led to
the rediscovery of late-Romantic Spanish composer
Julián Menéndez, whose clarinet is now at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He also
performed the South American premiere of the
original Copland Clarinet Concerto, reconstructed
from the manuscripts at the Library of Congress.
He has recorded for the Kobaltone and Prion
labels. His solo recordings include
“Abriendo Fronteras”, “Basque
Heart” and “Julián Menéndez
Rediscovered”. This last recording was
highly acclaimed by fellow clarinetists. Richard
Stoltzman wrote: “You have opened a
beautiful treasure chest of repertoire for the
world of clarinetists.” "Menéndez's
music fills an important niche, (…) Espina
Ruiz plays with great feeling," wrote
Charles Neidich. And Vicente Peñarrocha,
Menéndez’s prominent student, wrote:
“this recording is the result of the
profound knowledge of Espina Ruiz.”
He won top prizes at the Olga Koussevitzky and
Artists International competitions in New York in
1999; he was the Thayer Fellowship runner-up and
top music finalist in 2003; and he won the first
prize of the International Clarinet Association
Research Competition in 2006. His academic
writing includes an article in the March 2007
issue of “The Clarinet” magazine.
He holds a Doctor in Musical Arts diploma from
Stony Brook University and a Master in Fine Arts
diploma from Purchase College Conservatory of
Music, where his major teachers were Charles
Neidich and Ayako Oshima. He has also studied
with flutist Aurèle Nicolet while at the
European Mozart Academy.
More information at www.kobaltone.com |
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| Welcome
from the Artistic Director |
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| ©
2006-2008 TREETOPS CMS |
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