Cibrán Sierra - Violin

 

Born in Ourense (Galicia), studied at the Conservatorio Superior de Música in Vigo, Galicia (B.Mus.), Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Netherlands (M.Mus.), Oberlin College, US (Artist Diploma) and Univeristy of Göteborg, Sweden (Soloist Diploma). He specialized in chamber music with postgraduate studies at the Basel MusikHochschule, Switzerland, the Escuela Reina Sofia in Madrid and the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA).

Main violin teacher include Milan Vitek, Per Enoksson and Keiko Wataya. Chamber music studies with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet), Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet) and Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet), have profoundly influenced his musical personality.

He has been awarded several prizes as violinist, such as the Guido Vecchi Prize (Göteborg, 2003), 1st Prize at Voldrich Competition (Sweden), Bärenreiter Prize (Jenuesses Musicales, Spain 2000) or Dean’s Talent Award (Oberlin, USA, 2002) , etc. As soloist he’s performed with orchestras in Spain and Scandinavia, most notably with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO, with whom he played Bartók’s 1st violin concerto). In Gothenburg he also offered the premiére of Roger Johansson’s Violin Concerto (2004) which was dedicated to him. He has also given recittals in Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Czech Republic, Netherlands, USA, etc. and collaborated with several esembles and chamber music groups such as the Casals Quartet, Meta4, Forma Antiqva, Quatuor Ardeo or the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

As concertmaster and principal he has collaborated with several orchestras (Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra-GSO, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, The Oberlin Opera, and several others), working closely with conductors such as Frans Brüggen, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Gustavo Dudamel, Lawrence Foster, Andrew Manze, Paul Polivnick, James Ross, Sir Colin Davis or Jordi Savall, among others.

With the firm commitment of paying tribute to the great Galician violinist Manuel Quiroga, he found the Cuarteto Quiroga, prizewinner of several of the most prestigious international competitions for String Quartet (Bordeaux, Geneva, Paolo Borciani, Beijing, Paris), the Spanish Radio Culture Prize (Ojo Crítico 2007) and the Gold Medal of the Palau in Barcelona. The Cuarteto Quiroga tours regularly worldwide, performing at the most important venues and festivals of the international scene (Wigmore Hall London, Philharmonie Berlin, Frick Collection New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Doelen Rotterdam, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Beijing National Concert Hall, Teatro Solís Montevideo, Nybrokajen Estocolmo, Il Gonfallone di Roma, etc.), has recently released their CD “Statements” (Cobra Records) with unanimous applause from critics and audiences, and is considered one of the most dynamic, bold and important quartets of Europe’s newest genereation. Among their more immediate projects we can list concerts and tours in Australia, US, United Arab Emirates, and residencies in Holland (Orlando Festival) and France (Festival de Luberon).

Cibrán Sierra is founder and artistic director of the Chamber Music Season “Sen Batuta” held in his Galician hometown of Ourense. As a teacher he worked at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and currently holds the String Quartet chair at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón in Zaragoza, Spain. He gives regularly chamber music masterclasses worlwide (Spanish National Youth Orchestra-JONDE, Madrid, Oviedo and Málaga Conservatories, Universities of Houston and Washington in Seattle, Orlando Festival-Holland, etc.) and has been a jury member at the Llanes International Violin Competition and the Spanish Radio Culture Prize Ojo Crítico 2009.

He plays the Nicola Amati “Arnold Rosé” violin (Cremona, 1682), thanks to the generous loan of Paola Modiano’s heirs.