PROGRAM FESTIWALU - 2016
Berta Rojas
Reservation by phone only: +48 71 718 30 17 or e-mail: tickets@guitarmasters.pl
Berta Rojas, born in 1966 in Paraguay, is an acclaimed classical guitarist, known for her exquisite technique and exceptional musicality. She has been internationally appreciated not only by audiences, but also by music industry and critics. She has received three nominations for Latin Grammy Awards. Washington Post called Berta Rojas a “guitarist extraordinaire”, while Classical Guitar Magazine acknowledged her as “Ambassador of the classical guitar”. The artist has performed at such important stages as the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Frederick P. Rose Hall of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., London’s South Bank Centre and the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall. Berta Rojas has performed as a solo recitalist, in duets and as a soloist with orchestras. As the duo with Carlos Barbosa-Lima, the guitarist recorded albums Alma y Corazón (2007) and well-known Intimate Barrios (2008). With a Cuban saxophonist and a mulitple-time Grammy Award winner Paquito D’Rivera, Rojas has visited twenty countries in the Americas during the“In the Footsteps of Mangoré” tour. Rojas and D’Rivera recorded together the Grammy nominated album Día y Medio (2012). The artist engages herself in propagating Paraguayan and Latin American music. She is also involved in promoting and supporting young, upcoming artists. She has given numerous master classes in many different countries. In 2009, she created the Barrios World Wide Web Competition, which is the first online classical guitar competition. Furthermore, she co-founded the Beatty Music Scholarship Competition for Classical Guitar for youth. In 1996, the artist was honored as a Fellow of the Americas by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for her artistic excellence. The news agency EFE announced her in 2014 „one of the most influential women in the Hispanic world”.
Berta Rojas began her music education in classical guitar at the age of ten under Felipe Sosa and Violeta de Mestral. Then, she moved from her native Paraguay to Uruguay to study under Abel Carlevaro. She graduated from the Escuela Universitaria de Música, where she obtained a Bachelor of Music degree as a student of Eduardo Fernández. After receiving a scholarship, she continued to study at the Peabody Institute under Manuel Barrueco. In 2000, Berta Rojas received her Graduate Performance Diploma. Nowadays, she is perceived as a one of the best classical guitarists due to her perfect technique and outstanding interpretational skills.