Asier Polo

Asier Polo
Origin	Bilbao, Spain
Genres	Chamber music
Instruments	Cello

Asier Polo is a Spanish cellist.

Biography

Polo' was born in Bilbao, Spain where he studied at the Conservatory of Music with Professor Elisa Pascu.[1] In 1987-89, he won first prizes in cello and chamber music at the National Young Musicians Competition.[1] Later, he studied at the Reina Sofía School of Music, and with Maria Kliegel[1] at the Hochschule fur Musik in Cologne and with Ivan Monighetti[1] at the Basel Academy of Music. Polo has participated in master classes with Natalia Gutman and Mstislav Rostropovich.[2] During his studies in Cologne and Madrid, he also studied chamber music with the Amadeus Quartet and members of Quartetto Italiano.[3] Since then, he has appeared as soloist and in recitals in Europe, Asia and America. He has performed with Maria Kliegel and the late Alfredo Kraus,[4] who, during his last years, invited Polo to appear as soloist in his concerts at Covent Garden in London and Maggio Musicale in Florence, Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Musikverein in Vienna.[1]

Performances

Polo has toured South America with the Spanish National Orchestra with Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos conducting, and has played with the Opera Orchestra of Nice, the National Orchestra of Bordeaux, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Basel Philharmonic, the Monterey Symphony Orchestra,[5] and the Israel Philharmonic. Conductors with whom he has appeared as soloist include Christian Badea, Gunther Herbig, Antoni Wit, and Arturo Tamayo.[1] In 2006 he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City.[6]

He also plays often with the pianist from Legazpi, Marta Zabaleta.[7]

Spanish composers Gabriel Erkoreka, Luis de Pablo,[8] Antón García Abril[9] and Carmelo Bernaola[10] have written works premiered by Polo, who was described as "outstanding" by Carlos Prieto.[8]

Polo plays on a Francesco Rugieri violoncello (Cremona 1689) bought in collaboration with Banesto.[11] He currently teaches at the Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco-Musikene.[11]

Recordings

Polo has recorded for Claves Records, RTVE Records, Marco Polo Records and Naxos Records, and has recorded for radio and TV in Spain, Germany and Japan.[1]

References

1. "El violonchelista Asier Polo abre esta tarde el ciclo musical, Barroko Aire". Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 3 November 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
2. "Asier Polo". El Cultural (in Spanish). 17 April 2002. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
3. "Asier Polo biolontxelojoleak bost kontzertuko bira egingo du AEBetan Montereyko Orkestra Sinfonikoarekin". Euskalkultura.com (in Basque). 3 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
4. "El público puesto en pie homenajea a Alfredo Kraus en el Liceo". El País (in Spanish). 28 November 1999. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
5. "The Bragado era begins". Monterey County Herald. 13 January 2005.
6. "La pianista Marta Zabaleta estrena el 'Libro para piano' de González Pastor". El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). 18 August 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
7. Zallo, Ramon (1998). Euskal Herria, gaur (in Basque). Alberdania. p. 200. ISBN 978-84-96643-41-3.
8. Prieto, Carlos (2006). The adventures of a cello. University of Texas Press. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-292-71322-2.
9. Egiguren, Ignacio Amestoy; Adolfo Simón (2006). Once voces contra la barbarie del 11-M (in Spanish). Fundación Autor. p. 11. ISBN 978-84-8048-691-0.
10. García del Busto, José Luis (2005). "La aportación del maestro Bernaola vista a través de su música concertante". Revista internacional de los estudios vascos (in Spanish). Sociedad de Estudios Vascos. 50 (2): 409–410. ISSN 0212-7016.
11. "El violonchelista Asier Polo se une hoy a la OSE en el Teatro Principal". Noticias de Álava (in Spanish). 18 May 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-01.

External links

• Photo gallery and interview