Uxía Martínez Botana

Uxía Martínez Botana (born 7 August 1988) is a Spanish double bass player. She is the principal double-bassist with the Brussels Philharmonic.[1]

Uxía Martínez Botana

Early life and education

Uxía Martínez Botana was born in A Coruña, Spain. Her father was a university professor and specialised in ancient languages. Her mother came from a Jewish-Italian family but raised in Spain. She was a government official and also an amateur pianist.[2]

Martínez Botana started her music studies of double bass and piano at the age of 6 at the elementary music conservatory Cristóbal Halffter in Ponferrada (Spain). Her very first teacher was Witold Patsevich – the principal bass player from the Moscow Virtuosi orchestra – and his wife pianist Tatiana Patsevich. As Martínez Botana admits, Patsevich has been her biggest influence in creating her own sound and music individuality.[2][3]

At the age of 12 she moved to A Coruña (Galicia, Spain) where she continued her studies at Youth Orchestra of Sinfónica de Galicia.[4] Then, at 18 she moved to Amsterdam (The Netherlands) where she finished her bachelor and master studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.[2]

Her teachers included Edicson Ruiz, double-bassist with the Berlin Philharmonic; Janne Saksala, principal double bass at the Berlin Philharmonic; and Peter Stotijn, the former principal bass player of the Hague Residentie Orchestra.[2]

Career

Orchestral performance

Martínez Botana signed her first professional contract with the Sinfónica de Galicia in Spain at the age of 16. Later she has worked as a bass player in orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Marc Albrecht and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta under the direction of Candida Thompson. Martínez Botana has been a guest principal double bass at the Philharmonie Zuid-Nederland and at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. She is currently a Principal Double Bass of the Brussels Philharmonic.[1] As a part of this orchestra Martinez Botana recorded three CD's in 2017 and 2018: the CHOC-winning[5] Deutsche Grammophon Prokofiev: Romantic Suites (Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella) with conductor Stéphane Denève[6], the Warner Classics Piazzolla / Galliano: Concertos for Badoneon & Accordion with conductor Diego Matheuz and accordionist Gwen Cresens[7] and the ERATO Cinema recorded by violinist Renaud Capuçon and the Brussels Philharmonic under the baton of Stéphane Denève[8]. Since January 2016 she has also been a Principal Double Bass of the Zürich-based Weinberger Kammerorchester under the direction of Gábor Takács-Nagy.[9]

Martínez Botana was the first Spanish musician invited as a principal double bass player to the Grammy Award winner Kremerata Baltica under the direction of Gidon Kremer.[10] As a part of this orchestra she worked with soloists such as Martha Argerich, Emmanuel Pahud, Khatia Buniatishvili, Daniel Barenboim, Mario Brunello, Mikhail Pletnev, Heinrich Schiff, and others.[2][3]

Chamber and solo performance

Beside orchestral performing, Martínez Botana has developed solo career and now often comes to the stage as a chamber musician. The list of her most notable concert appearances includes the premiere of works by composer Vladimir Rosinskij (born 1962) at the "Two Days and Two Nights of New Music" festival in Odessa, Ukraine. In 2010 her interpretation of the Parable XVII by Vincent Persichetti was appreciated by critics. In 2014 Martínez Botana had her solo debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with the New European Ensemble. In February 2017 she presented Rosinskij's works with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia under the baton of Dima Slobodeniouk. Martínez Botana was also giving solo concerts in Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.[11] In 2018 she was invited as a principle double bass to the French chamber ensemble Orchestre d'Auvergne for a series of concerts from 11 to 13 January.[12]

As a chamber musician Martínez Botana performed with prominent artists including Julia Fischer, Ana Chumachenko, Yuri Bashmet, Natalia Gutman, Andras Schiff, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt, Nobuko Imai, Tabea Zimmermann, Polina Leschenko, Philippe Graffin, Gary Hoffman, David Cohen, Kian Soltani, Aaron Pilsan, Antje Weithaas, Alexander Buzlov, Alissa Margulis, Mischa Maisky and Tatiana Masurenko. Among others, she took part in the Tango Factory project with Marcello Nisinman (bandoneon) and Frans Helmerson (cello). Also, she collaborated with British conductor Simon Rattle performing the Metamorphosen by Richard Strauss.[13][14]

In 2014 Martínez Botana founded the Rubik Ensemble along with the international team of five young soloists: Nikita Boriso-Glebsky (violin), Solenne Paidassi (violin), David Cohen (cello), Dana Zemtsov (viola) and Andreas Hering (piano). Performing on different stages since that time, the Rubik Ensemble has gained positive feedback from audiences and press.[15] The ensemble is named after Rubik's Cube.[16]

In April, 2019 Uxia Martínez had her solo debut with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra under tha baton of Josef Špaček. The programme also included Giovanni Bottesini's Gran Duo Concertante for violin and double bass.

In August, 2019 she performed the same piece by Bottesini with Josef Špaček as a violinist and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra under Robert Farkas[17].. Also, in that period Martínez Botana debuted at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy with Alina Ibragimova (violin), Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux (violin), Lawrence Power (viola), Sol Gabetta (cello), Bertrand Chamayou (piano).

In May 2020, due to the quarentine of the covid-19 pandemic, together with the violinist Niklas Liepe's "The new Paganini project" playing a Fazil Say composition from Amsterdam. The performance has been recorded and published in July 2020 by Sony Classical.[18]

Teaching

Since 2018 she is double bass professor in Barcelona at the Catalonia College of Music.

Instrument

In February 2016 Martínez Botana was selected by the National Dutch Musical Instrument Foundation as one of the sponsored artists. The foundation loaned her the double bass "English Lady" (c. 1800) which belongs to the Willem Vogelaar collection.

«What does make this instrument special is the elegant and refined tone [which is] very appropriate for solo and chamber music that you can provide. Moreover, it's the instrument with a huge range of sound colors, something quite demanded on double basses and rare to find».[19]

Martínez Botana also plays the "Ludwig Neuner" (1854) double bass loaned by a private sponsor.[3]

Touring

Martínez Botana regularly takes part in festivals over Europe: the Gergiev Festival (Netherlands), Schleswig Holstein International Chamber Music Festival, Spannungen (Germany), Kuhmo International Chamber Music Festival (Finland), The Kronberg Academy "Chamber Music Connects the World" and "Masters in Performance of the Kronberg Academy" (Germany), Musiq'3 Festival (Belgium), Stellenbosch International Music Festival (South Africa) Schubertiade Schwarzenberg Hohenems (Austria), among others.

Repertoire

Martínez Botana's repertoire embraces music of different countries, genres and epochs. She performs compositions by Giovanni Battista degli Antonii, Domenico Gabrielli, Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Baptist Wanhal, Franz Anton Hoffmeister, Niccolò Paganini, Ludwig van Beethoven, Giovanni Bottesini, Gioachino Rossini, César Franck, Johannes Brahms, Adolf Mišek, Max Bruch, Gabriel Fauré, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Enrique Granados, Paul Hindemith, Hans Fryba, Erwin Schulhoff, Vincent Persichetti, Mieczysław Weinberg, Virgilio Mortari, Serge Koussevitzky, Astor Piazzolla, Michel van der Aa, Edgar Meyer, Nino Rota, Hans Werner Henze, Sofia Gubaidulina, Frank Proto, Pēteris Vasks, David Ellis, Teppo Hauta-aho and Emil Tabakov.[20] In December 2011 the video of her interpretation of the Parable XVII by Vincent Persichetti was chosen by the American bass magazine No Treble for its Top Ten most-read features of the week.[21]

Soundtracks

Martínez Botana's interest in film music led her to collaborations with the Netherlands Film Festival. She participated in recording soundtracks to a number of films including No estoy muerto, solo estoy dormido (I am not dead, I am just asleep) by de Dutch/Mexican filmmaker Juan Sebastian Lopez Maas who was awarded at the Berlinale Film Festival with the Canon Award for young talents.[22]

As a part of the Brussels Philharmonic she has participated in recording of many soundtracks including the Oscar award-winning soundtrack of the film The Artist by Ludovic Bource.[23]

Achievements
  • 2012 – Artist of the Year selected by the national music magazine Muzika, Kiev, Ukraine[24]
  • 2014 – Gustav Mahler scholarship provided by the Claudio Abbado Foundation, Bolzano, Italy[25]
  • 2015 – Sponsored artist of the Pirastro brand, a string manufacturer in Offenbach am Main, Germany[26]
  • For the concert season 2015/2016, Martínez Botana was selected as the artistic image[27] of one of the Netherlands most prestigious halls called the TivoliVredenburg and based in Utrecht.
  • 2016 – Botana was featured in the Japanese music magazine The Walker's, including a photo on the title page.[28]
  • 2017 – She is included in The Honorific Yearbook from the Arts Department of the University of Florence, Italy, as one of the most important double bass players of the millennium.[29][30][31]
  • 2018 – Docent at the Catalonia College of Music (ESMUC) in Barcelona, Spain.[32]

Quotes
  • "The best performer of the night was undoubtedly Spanish double bass player Uxia Martinez Botana. She is principal double-bassist at the Brussels Philharmonic and played passionately and confidently throughout the evening. Overall, the night was undoubtedly dominated by excellence" - Saffron Walden Reporter [33]
  • "Uxía plays bass with such elegance and agility that she reminds me more a violinist rather than a bass player." – Ivry Gitlis[34]
  • "The amount of control she shows over her instrument is astonishing while the emotion she pours into it is breathtaking, and for that we say bravo!" – No Treble magazine[35]
  • "The energetic musician – inexhaustible as well as positive – Martínez Botana has been at the top of the best double bass performers for long time." – Codalario.com[2]
  • "In the double bass of a superb Uxía Martínez Botana, Vladimir Rosinskij ventures into a (scarce, on the other hand) search for other timbrels." – Mundoclasico.com about the 2017 premiere of Vladimir Rosinskij's Concerto Misterio performed by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia with conductor Dima Slobodeniouk[36]

Charitable activity

Very committed to the fight against cancer, she collaborates closely through her music with associations working in that field.[37]

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References
  1. "Musicians". Brussels Philharmonic. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  2. "Uxía Martínez Botana, contrabajista: 'Lo que más me importa es llegar al corazón de la gente'". codalario.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  3. Botana, Uxia Martinez. "About : Uxia Martinez Botana Double Bass". Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  4. Fraga, Xesús (2017-02-15). "Uxía Martínez Botana: "El músico es como un mago que transmite emociones al público"". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  5. KAN. "Prix pour CD " Prokofiev : Romantic Suites "". www.brusselsphilharmonic.be (in French). Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  6. "New CD on Deutsche Grammophon". Brussels Philharmonic. Retrieved 2017-12-23.
  7. Erato, Warner Classics /. "Gwen Cresens // Piazzolla / Galliano: Concertos for Badoneon & Accordion". Warner Classics. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  8. "Cinema: Renaud Capuçon - Brussels Philharmonic". www.brusselsphilharmonic.be. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  9. "Weinberger Kammerorchester" (in German). Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  10. www.web-sprendimai.lt. "Events | Gidon Kremer". www.gidonkremer.net (in German). Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  11. Botana, Uxia Martinez. "Media | Uxia Martinez Botana". Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  12. Codalario. "Uxía Martínez Botana, con la Orchestre D'Auvergne bajo la dirección de Roberto Forés" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-01-13.
  13. "La contrabajista española Uxía Martínez Botana trabajará junto a Simon Rattle". codalario.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  14. "Rubik en prélude aux Musicales en Côte Chalonnaise" (in French). Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  15. "Rubik Ensemble". Rubik Ensemble (in Italian). Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  16. "Uxía Martínez Botana: la sociedad se deshumaniza por falta de emociones" by Alicia Población Brel, periodistas-es.com, 22 April 2017 (in Spanish)
  17. "Leaving Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  18. "Sony Classical". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  19. "Uxía Martinez Botana". Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds (in Dutch). Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  20. Botana, Uxia Martinez. "Repertorie | Uxia Martinez Botana". Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  21. "Top Ten: Bass / Not Bass Discussion, New Signature Basses and Gear, Plus the Top Videos & Columns of the Week". No Treble. Retrieved 2017-12-23.
  22. "Berlin Looks to Holland's Talentpublisher=Nederlands Film Festival". www.filmfestival.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  23. "Oscar voor Brussels Philharmonic" (in Dutch). Brussels Philharmonic. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  24. Botana, Uxia Martinez. "Photo Gallery: Uxia Martinez Botana". Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  25. "Kronberg Academy: Uxía Martínez Botana". Kronberg Academy. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  26. "Pirastro – Strings Handmade in Germany since 1798". www.pirastro.com. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  27. "TivoliVredenburg Abonnementenbrochure 15/16". issuu. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  28. The Walker's, Vol. 47, title page, article (in Japanese)
  29. "La Universidad de Florencia reconoce la trayectoria de Uxía Martínez Botana". codalario.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  30. Maurizio, Agamennone; Placida, Staro; Lorenzo, Pelizzari; Lorenzo, Romano; De, Zorzi Giovanni; Pierpaolo, Pontarollo; Uxìa, Martìnez-Botana; Enrico, Fagone; Ludovico, Tramma (2016). "Una premessa". Per Archi. XI.8/9. ISSN 1825-9421.
  31. "Las contrabajistas: estudio y análisis de la situación del contrabajo en la Comunidad Valenciana" by María Pilar García Ramírez, Masters thesis (July 2017), Universitat Politècnica de València, p. 33 (in Spanish)
  32. Codalario. "La ESMUC ficha a Uxía Martínez Botana". www.codalario.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  33. Maciuca, Andra. "Maths never sounded so good before Saffron Hall concert". Saffron Walden Reporter. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  34. "Laatste nieuws". Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds (in Dutch). Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  35. "Uxía Martínez Botana: Persichetti's Parable XVII for Double Bass". No Treble. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  36. Clasico, Mundo. "[MC] Arcaicos misterios". www.mundoclasico.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  37. "Uxía Martínez Botana / Festival 2015 / Artists / Archive". www.winteravondenaandeamstel.nl. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
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