David Santacecilia & Alberto Urroz
Biography David Santacecilia & Alberto Urroz
David Santacecilia
A musician from Madrid and a Philosophy graduate, he holds advanced degrees in Violin, Harpsichord, Chamber Music, Baroque Violin, Composition, and Orchestral Conducting. He has performed recitals and concerts at major national and international venues (including Paris, Lima, and Cologne) and has made recordings for RTVE, Piccolo Producciones, and the Spanish Musicology Society.
He is a member and artistic director of the early music ensemble Exordium Musicae; with this group, he recently recorded string trios by G. Brunetti using period instruments—a project involving historical revival sponsored by the Spanish Musicology Society.
He frequently performs chamber music recitals at venues such as the Juan March Foundation, the Conde-Duque Cultural Center (Madrid), the Chamber Hall of the National Music Auditorium (Madrid), the Casino de Madrid, the Manuel de Falla Auditorium (Granada), the María Cristina Theater (Málaga), and the Madrid Composers' Association Festival, among others. He has also collaborated on numerous occasions with orchestras such as the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, and the Toulouse Chamber Orchestra.
As an orchestral conductor, he has performed in venues including the National Music Auditorium (Madrid) and the García Barbón Theater (Vigo). He has conducted ensembles such as the Alcorcón Philharmonic Orchestra, the Xove Orquestra Vigo 430, and the Amaniel Conservatory Symphony Orchestra (Madrid), as well as various other instrumental groups.
His accolades include the Graduation Honors Award (1999), the Honors Award from the Royal Higher Conservatory of Music of Madrid (2001), and awards at the Jacinto Guerrero National Performance Competition in Toledo (2001) and the 7th Vinarós National Chamber Music Competition (Juventudes Musicales, 2005). He also won First Prize at the Yanguas National Chamber Music Competition (2005) and was a finalist in the Antón García Abril Competition (2015), among other distinctions. As a composer, he has premiered works with the Autonomous University of Madrid Symphony Orchestra and composed incidental music for Molière’s *The Scapin* (produced by Algarabía Teatro for the 2008 Almagro Theatre Festival); he also created arrangements and original music for *Una gran emoción política* by the dance-theatre company La Phármaco, a production of the National Drama Centre (Centro Dramático Nacional) in 2018.
In 2020, the journal *Quodlibet* published his article "Louis Spohr as a Missing Link Between Viennese Classicism and German Romanticism: Spohr’s Harmonic Language and Its Relationship to the Tristan Chord," which highlights the German composer's significance as a crucial link in music history.
He currently balances his performance career with teaching; he holds a tenured position as a Violin and Orchestra instructor at the Amaniel Professional Music Conservatory in Madrid and serves as a collaborating instructor with student orchestras such as the Community of Madrid Youth Orchestra, the University of Alcalá de Henares Orchestra, and the Ciudad de Alcalá Orchestra. Since 2021, he has also held a tenured position teaching Harmony, Analysis, and Fundamentals of Composition for the Community of Madrid.
Alberto Urroz
Acclaimed Spanish pianist Alberto Urroz is a solo artist, also active as chamber and vocal collaborator, who has delighted audiences and critics throughout Europe, Asia and America.
A successful debut in 2008 at New York’s Carnegie Hall boosted his international career, been commissioned by important cultural institutions such as the Prado Museum, Madrid National Auditorium, Conde Duque Auditorium, the Santander and Peralada International Festivals, the Royal San Fernando Fine Arts Academy, the Juan March Foundation, the Cervantes Institute in Berlin, Lisbon and Manila, Festival Percusos and Festival Terras Sem Sombra in Portugal; the Roma International Piano Competition and the Music Talent Festival in Brescia, Italy; the German Embassy in Madrid; the Las Canals, Binic and Hyères Festivals in France; the Piano Week Festival in Denmark; Iberian Foundation for Spanish Music, La Maison Française (NYU) and the Georgia State University in USA; the Italian Culture Institute in Madrid, Lisbon and Strasburg, etc. He has performed in such halls as the Madrid National Auditorium, Conde Duque Cultural Centre, Museo del Prado Auditorium, the Gayarre Theatre, the Santander Festivals’ Palace, Manuel de Falla Auditorium, the Weill Recital Hall and Elebash Recital Hall (NY), Salle du Munsterhof (Strasburg), Bolivar Hall (London), the Sejong Center (Seoul), Kopleff Recital Hall (Atlanta), the Oslo Music Academy, the Amsterdam Conservatory, the Tel Aviv Philarmonie, the CCP (Manila), etc.
Mr. Urroz’s discography includes his first solo album “Spain Envisioned”, “Scarlatti Sonatas” and “Brahms Complete Violin Sonatas” with Vadim Tchijik, all on Ibs label and “Pauline Inspired: melodies by and for Pauline Viardot” with mezzo Laure de Marcellus on Centaur Records. Two new recordings have been released on Ibs: a selection of unknown XIX Century Spanish violin and piano sonatas with violinist David Santacecilia and the long-awaited recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
Alberto Urroz is Founder and Artistic Director of the Mendigorria International Music Festival in Spain. President of EPTA Spain, he was appointed EPTA European President in 2021. Dr. Urroz was granted an honorary award to the best Doctoral Thesis for his dissertation “Optimization of the didactic-learning process of piano technique” (UAX, 2017) and he is piano professor at Alfonso X University and Arturo Soria Conservatory in Madrid. He has also been cofounder and Artistic Director of the I Madrid Shigeru Kawai Piano Competition and he is regularly invited as a piano teacher, lecturer and jury in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Albania, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, USA and South Korea. Alberto Urroz studied at Madrid Royal Conservatory, Tel Aviv University and in New York City with Joaquín Soriano, Pnina Salzman, György Sándor and Oxana Yablonskaya.
