Agustín León Ara
Espagne, °1936
Agustín León Ara was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, where he began studying music with his parents at the Conservatoire in that city. He continued his studies at the Royal College of Music of London with Albert Sammons, Cecil Aronowitz and Alan Loveday, and later, in Brussels, with André Gertler and Louis Poulet. Prize winner in the International Contests of Darmstadt (Contemporary Music), Henri Wieniawski, and Queen Elisabeth, León Ara began a brilliant international career as a violin soloist in collaboration with prestigious orchestras and distinguished conductors.
Among the composers who have dedicated works to him are Joaquin Rodrigo and Grazyna Bacewicz, and other distinguished Spanish contemporary composers, including Luis de Pablo and Tomás Marco, several of whose Concertos he has premiered.
As professor of violin, Agustín León Ara has made an outstanding contribution to the training of musicians in Spain and abroad. His teaching posts include professor of violin at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, the Conservatory of Barcelona, the Queen Elisabeth Music College, and professor at the Manuel de Falla Music Courses at the University of Granada from the time of their founding until 1985.
He has given master classes at the Conservatories of Valencia, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Palma de Mallorca, as well as the South American School of Violin in Caracas, the Youth Orchestra of Costa Rica and the National Conservatoire of France in Paris. He has also given courses for the Generalitat of Valencia at Morella and Segorbe.
At present, Agustín León Ara is violin professor and assistant director of the international university course Música en Compostela, professor of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra since its founding, and guest professor at the Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña (ESMUC).
He maintains a full schedule as maestro and international soloist, frequently performing chamber music in duo with such distinguished pianists as Rosa Sabater, José Tordesillas, and at present with Graham Jackson, playing a classical as well as contemporary repertoire. He recently began performances with the Música en Compostela String Quartet, with Pedro Corostola, Enrique Santiago, and José Manuel Álvarez Losada.
Crowning his brilliant career as a soloist and chamber music performer, professor and member of the Academy, Agustín León Ara is the founder and director of the Joaquín Rodrigo Chamber Orchestra.
He has made numerous recordings for DECCA, EMI, ARIOLA, EURODISC, PHONIC, and PHILIPS. Outstanding among these CD's are Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Estío for violin and orchestra, with the London Symphony Orchestra on EMI Classics, the complete works for violin by Joaquin Rodrigo on CPO, and the Cançoneta, by the same composer, with the orchestra of St. Martin in the Fields.
Recently he completed a recording for EMI Classics with the Joaquín Rodrigo Chamber Orchestra entirely dedicated to Joaquín Rodrigo's music, as a Centenary tribute to the composer. He is considered one of the leading authorities on the music of Joaquín Rodrigo.
Among the many important honors Agustín León Ara has received are the Medal of the Eugene Ysaÿe Foundation, Brussels, election to Full Member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Madrid, Corresponding Member of the San Miguel Academy of Fine Arts, Tenerife, Gold Medal of the Island of Tenerife, the Olga Verney Medal from the Harriet Cohen Foundation, London, and the Larios Prize from the CEOE, Madrid, for his brilliant career as international violin soloist, promoting Spanish music worldwide, and his great dedication to teaching, having founded his own personal school of the violin.
Among the composers who have dedicated works to him are Joaquin Rodrigo and Grazyna Bacewicz, and other distinguished Spanish contemporary composers, including Luis de Pablo and Tomás Marco, several of whose Concertos he has premiered.
As professor of violin, Agustín León Ara has made an outstanding contribution to the training of musicians in Spain and abroad. His teaching posts include professor of violin at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, the Conservatory of Barcelona, the Queen Elisabeth Music College, and professor at the Manuel de Falla Music Courses at the University of Granada from the time of their founding until 1985.
He has given master classes at the Conservatories of Valencia, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Palma de Mallorca, as well as the South American School of Violin in Caracas, the Youth Orchestra of Costa Rica and the National Conservatoire of France in Paris. He has also given courses for the Generalitat of Valencia at Morella and Segorbe.
At present, Agustín León Ara is violin professor and assistant director of the international university course Música en Compostela, professor of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra since its founding, and guest professor at the Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña (ESMUC).
He maintains a full schedule as maestro and international soloist, frequently performing chamber music in duo with such distinguished pianists as Rosa Sabater, José Tordesillas, and at present with Graham Jackson, playing a classical as well as contemporary repertoire. He recently began performances with the Música en Compostela String Quartet, with Pedro Corostola, Enrique Santiago, and José Manuel Álvarez Losada.
Crowning his brilliant career as a soloist and chamber music performer, professor and member of the Academy, Agustín León Ara is the founder and director of the Joaquín Rodrigo Chamber Orchestra.
He has made numerous recordings for DECCA, EMI, ARIOLA, EURODISC, PHONIC, and PHILIPS. Outstanding among these CD's are Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Estío for violin and orchestra, with the London Symphony Orchestra on EMI Classics, the complete works for violin by Joaquin Rodrigo on CPO, and the Cançoneta, by the same composer, with the orchestra of St. Martin in the Fields.
Recently he completed a recording for EMI Classics with the Joaquín Rodrigo Chamber Orchestra entirely dedicated to Joaquín Rodrigo's music, as a Centenary tribute to the composer. He is considered one of the leading authorities on the music of Joaquín Rodrigo.
Among the many important honors Agustín León Ara has received are the Medal of the Eugene Ysaÿe Foundation, Brussels, election to Full Member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Madrid, Corresponding Member of the San Miguel Academy of Fine Arts, Tenerife, Gold Medal of the Island of Tenerife, the Olga Verney Medal from the Harriet Cohen Foundation, London, and the Larios Prize from the CEOE, Madrid, for his brilliant career as international violin soloist, promoting Spanish music worldwide, and his great dedication to teaching, having founded his own personal school of the violin.
