About the artists
Pablo Sáinz-Villegas
Guitar
Pablo Sáinz-Villegas has been acclaimed by the international press as the successor of Andrés Segovia, and worldwide ambassador of Spanish culture. He has been the first solo guitarist to play at Carnegie Hall in New York since Maestro Andrés Segovia did it in 1983, the first guitarist to play with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 2001, and the first guitarist to play with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra since 1983.
Since his debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, he has performed in more than 40 countries and with orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Spain and in theaters such as the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the National Center for the Arts in Beijing and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo among many others, thus becoming the "global ambassador of the Spanish guitar" (Billboard Magazine). Plácido Domingo described him as "The master of the Spanish guitar". They have collaborated on many projects together such as recording the album "Volver" as a duo for SONY, as well as participating in the tribute held in Placido's honor at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid for more than 85,000 people, and in a concert on a floating stage on the Amazon River televised for millions of viewers around the world. The performance of the song “I sell black eyes” in duet with Plácido Domingo at the National Stadium in Santiago de Chile for 45,000 spectators singing in unison and accompanied by his guitar is one of the moments he remembers with the most emotion.
Pablo Sáinz Villegas believes in the power of music to inspire all human beings and has enjoyed massive concerts for tens of thousands of people in Chicago's Grant Park, Lisbon's Praça do Comércio or the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The success of his Concierto de Aranjuez by Maestro Joaquín Rodrigo translates into repeated invitations from directors such as Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Alexander Shelley, Richard Egarr, Juanjo Mena and Alondra de la Parra. The live recording of Pablo with the Radio and Television Orchestra of Spain and the director Carlos Kalmar has more than 16 million views on Youtube and it is considered one of the best live performances ever made.
A regular performer in concerts of institutional representation, he has had the privilege of playing on different occasions before members of the Spanish Royal Family, highlighting his concert at the Princess of Asturias Awards in 2021. He has also performed before other heads of state and international leaders such as the Dalai Lama or Sotheby's auction house for whom he musically presented his collection of Masters of Spanish Painting in their annual auction of 2017.
A tireless promoter of the development of the Spanish classical guitar repertoire, he has made numerous world premieres, among which is the first work written for guitar by the great soundtrack composer and winner of five Oscars, John Williams. Williams also composed a duet for Sainz-Villegas and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, ‘Prayer for Peace’ that was recorded on September 11, 2021. He has also premiered pieces by the composers Tomás Marco, Jesús Torres, María Dolores Malumbres, David del Puerto and Sergio Assad among others. In 2023/24 he will premiere the first 'Concerto for guitar and orchestra' by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez. Pablo Sáinz Villegas is an exclusive SONY Classical artist.
He is an award-winning artist with more than thirty international awards, including the Andrés Segovia, the Francisco Tárrega, and the Christopher Parkening. Likewise, he has been awarded the “Award for Rioja Arts”, “Illustrious Rioja” and the “Critical Eye” Award from Radio Nacional de España, this being the first time that this distinction has been awarded to a guitarist. In 2019 he unanimously received the award for cultural work "Trelles Villademoros" granted by the Body of the Nobility of the Principality of Asturias. In 2022 he has been appointed Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of La Rioja.
He is a socially committed artist. In 2006 Pablo Sáinz-Villegas founded the philanthropic project 'The Legacy of Music Without Borders' through which he has shared his music with more than 45,000 children and young people around the world. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, he offered live concerts through social networks and his videos had more than 300,000 views. Pablo Sáinz-Villegas is the artistic director of La Rioja Festival, a project conceived and developed by Sáinz-Villegas himself.
Pablo Sáinz Villegas was born in La Rioja (Spain) and since 2001 lives in New York City. He is currently the artistic director of 'La Rioja Festival'.
