Rodrigo de Vera

Spanish pianist, conductor and répétiteur Rodrigo de Vera trained at Musikene in San Sebastián (BMus, 1st Class), at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London (MMus Répétiteur, Distinction) and as a trainee répétiteur for English National Opera, and has experience as a coach, accompanist and recitalist in both vocal and instrumental genres. For ENO he worked on 'Rigoletto', 'Così fan tutte', 'The Pearl Fishers', 'Peter Grimes' (organist) and for the world premiere of Julian Anderson's 'Thebans' (synthesizer), later in Handel's 'Xerxes' and Puccini's 'The Girl of the Golden West' ('La fanciulla del West') as a freelance répétiteur and more recently in Sondheim's 'Sweeney Todd: The Barber Demon of Fleet Street' as an organist/keyboardist. Before that he studied in the Guildhall Repetiteur Course, where he received conducting lessons from Sian Edwards, Hilary Davan Wetton and Dominic Wheeler, and worked as a répétiteur on productions of 'La Navarraise', 'Le portrait de Manon', 'Comedy on the Bridge' and 'Le nozze di Figaro' (in this last one also as fortepianist). He was also assistant conductor for the GSMD/Banff Centre co-production of Benjamin Britten's 'Owen Wingrave', with which he travelled to Canada in the summer of 2013 for that opera's Canadian premiere. He continued his studies at the GSMD as Assistant Conductor Fellow, working on Debussy's 'L'enfant prodigue' and Donizetti's 'Francesca di Foix'. While at GSMD, he was supported by the Leverhulme Trust and the Fundación Enrique Lartundo of San Sebastián. He has acquired further operatic experience in productions of 'Carmen', 'La bohème', 'La sonnambula', 'Faust' and 'Il trovatore' (répétiteur) and 'Die Zauberflöte' (glockenspiel), all of them at the Asociación Lírica Luis Mariano of Irun (Spain). During his piano studies in Spain, he was tutored by Miguel Ituarte (solo piano), Enrique Ricci (vocal accompaniment) and Margarita Lorenzo de Reizábal (orchestral conducting). Future engagements include working as a coach at the Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto. Competitions, awards, and honors include First Prize at the International Piano Competition of San Sebastián (2006), First Prize in Chamber Music (Diploma d’Onore) in the Torneo Internazionale di Musica (T.I.M 2008), and a Concert Recital Diploma awarded by the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (2013). Rodrigo was invited in June 2012 to perform in a world premiere of two works by David Cantalejo which won the 6th Composition Competition "Durango Hiria" of Works for Txistu (Chamber Music). Additional mentors and masterclasses include répétiteurs Mack Sawyer (Teatro Real, Madrid) and Mark Hastings (Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona), Pamela Bullock, Jonathan Papp, David Gowland (Artistic Director of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, Royal Opera House), Jacques Rouvier (CNSM de Paris), Gerald Finley, Juan Diego Flórez, Luciana Serra and Sir Richard Bonynge. An active recitalist, performer and recording artist, he recently made his Wigmore Hall recital debut together with Welsh tenor Joshua Owen Mills. He has also performed live on BBC Radio 3's In Tune programme. Rodrigo has been a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Basque Country (EGO, 2009-2011) with which he recorded the soundtrack for the documentary '778 - La Chanson de Roland' in Eibar (Basque Country, Spain). Other orchestras that he has worked with include the Basque National Orchestra, Antología de La Zarzuela, and Luis Mariano. With cellist María Eugenia Silguero he forms the ‘Sil-ver Duo’; together they have given recitals at venues and events such as the Young Performers Cycle of the 69th Musical Fortnight of San Sebastián and the Ateneo Guipuzcoano. The duo released their first album “Sil-ver Duo in Concert” in spring 2007.