Rafael Rodriguez

South American Modern Repertoire (April 26th at 7 pm CT)

Fundamentos Técnicos para Interpretación de la Flauta (Jueves, Abril 29 a las 5 pm, hora de Texas)

 Rafael was born in Bogotá–Colombia. He is one of the most influential flutists in Colombia both as a performer and flute professor. His students have been invited to some of the most prestigious international flute competitions and they are also recurrent winners of the most prominent competitions for flutists and young musicians in Colombia.

Rafael has an important career in chamber music. He is a founding member of La Sociedad Ensemble. They have been invited to play in most of the major concert halls in Colombia and also in Brasil (2015) and The United States (2017). Most of their work is to perform and premier music from living composers and many of these pieces have been dedicated to the ensemble.

In 2019 he was invited to play at the Festival Internacional de Música de Cartagena together with pianist Ramin Bahrami and members of the Quartetto di Cremona. He was member of Ensamble Guloya, with whom he appeared at the 2018 Mid Atalntic flute convention in United States , the Flautístico 2017 flute festival in Dominican Republic, the Preludios 2016 music festival in Brazil and in the same year at the concert series of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia. In april 2013 he was invited to perform at the Tokyo Cervantes Institute in Japan with La Greca Ensemble and he also performed in 2012 at the Festival Internacional de Música Contemporanea de la Universidad de Chile with the ensemble CG. Between 2007 and 2012 he was member of the ensemble Cotoprí with whom he performed in Brazil and The United States.

He has been invited to record several CD’s published by the prestigious concert hall Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango dedicated to works of Colombian composers Luis Rizo (2013) Francisco Zumaqué (2014) and Fabian Roa (2016) and Pedro Sarmiento (2017). He was also invited to record on the CD “Formas de recuerdo sin territorio” (2016), dedicated prominent colombian composer Carolina Noguera.

Beside his work with the classical flute repertoire, Rafael has a strong background in Colombian and Caribbean popular music and Jazz. Together with his jazz ensemble “La Moderna”, he has been invited to play in the most prestigious jazz festivals in Colombia. In January of 2000, the ensemble released the CD “La Moderna MC” and in 2004 “Jovita” both of them containing music Rafael composed, arranged, and produced. From 2010 to 2017 the Festival Jazz al Parque invited him to be part of the Big Band Bogotá a prominent ensemble together with some of the most important figures of the jazz scene in Colombia. He is currently member of Igaragó a latin jazz ensemble with whom he publish a recording in 2019.

Rafael was principal assistant flutist with the Colombia National Symphony Orchestra for more than 10 years and he was also member of the Cundinamarca Philharmonic Orchestra. Rafael has been featured as a soloist with orchestras in Colombia, Brazil and The United States.

As a guest professor he has taught in all major flute festivals in Colombia and also in almost all Colombian universities with a music program. He has been invited to teach in de Virginia Tech University (USA), Oaxaca Music Festival (Mexico), Campo Grande University (Brazil), el Conservatorio Nacional de Música de Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Escuela Nacional de Música (Cuba) and the Universidad de Panamá (Panamá).

Rafael studied flute in Colombia and The United States with Sara Brown, Fabio Londoño, Ronda Mains and Mary-Karen Clardy. Rafael is founder and member of the board of directors of La Flauta Latinoamericana international flute competition. He was director of the program of musical studies at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and currently he is flute and chamber music professor at that institution. He is also flute professor at the Universidad Central and Universidad del Valle.