User:Wikibubbles/Ilmar Gavilan

"Gavilan has the touch of a poet"  -British Weekly

Violinist Ilmar Gavilán, a native of Havana, Cuba has had a remarkable and fascinating performing career that has taken him all over the world.

As a soloist, Mr. Gavilan has performed concertos with the Atlanta, New Jersey, Baltimore, Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Hartford, Nashville, Ann Arbor, Santa Monica, Phoenix, Denver, Louisiana, Havana, Mexico City, and Venezuelan National symphonies and made solo appearances in England, Russia, Spain and Portugal.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Gavilan has performed with Itzhak Perlman, Arnold Steinhardt, Ida Kavafian, Carter Brey, Paul Katz, Fred Sherry, Anthony McGill and Chick Corea. Mr. Gavilan has participated in numerous chamber music festivals, including Tanglewood, Ravinia and Angel Fire.

Mr Gavilan is an experienced educator, having taught for several years at Juilliard School's Music Advancement Program. In addition to private students, he has also taught chamber music and given master classes worldwide, most prominently at Música Mundi in Belgium, Soweto Music Academy in South Africa, Eumak Journal Festival in South Korea, and "El Sistema" in several youth orchestras throughout out Venezuela. In the US, Mr. Gavilan has given master classes at Brevard Music Festival, Eastman School of Music, Interlochen Arts Academy, Walnut Hill School of Music, Berklee School of Music, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Mr. Gavilan’s own academic journey began at the Manuel Saumell Conservatory in his native Havana. At the age of 14, Ilmar Gavilán was selected for advanced studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Through the personal recommendation and royal scholarship of Queen Sofia of Spain, studies took him to the Reina Sofia School of Music in Spain where he studied with Zakhar Bron.

Later studies brought Mr. Gavilan to the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where he studied with Glen Dicterow. As a founding member of the Harlem Quartet, Mr. Gavilan received a Graduate Diploma in Quartet Performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Mr. Gavilan’s mentors have included Donald Weilerstein and Miriam Fried. In addition, Mr. Gavilan received private lessons from legendary Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern and Ruggiero Ricci. Mr. Gavilan has achieved doctoral candidacy at Rutgers University under the mentorship of Arnold Steinhardt.

Mr. Gavilan won first prize at the Sphinx competition, as well as top honors at the Lipinsky-Wieniaswsky and the Henryk Szeryng International violin competitions. Mr. Gavilan's U.S. Solo recording debut “Aires y Leyendas” and his latest cd “Por el Mar…” solely comprised of music composed by his father Guido Lopez-Gavilan including a violin concerto dedicated to him, are now available on Amazon and iTunes.

lmar Gavilan was born to a prominent musical family. His parents are internationally acclaimed musicians and professors in the National Conservatory of Cuba, ISA. His father Guido, a conductor and renown composer; his mother Teresita a concert pianist and younger brother Aldo a brilliant pianist and composer. At the age of four, Ilmar Gavilan was introduced to the violin by his father. His first solo performance at the age of eight was with the “Orquesta de Camera Brindis de Salas” in Havana. Ilmar frequently performed on national television and radio in his native land, and with prominent orchestras throughout the country. Ilmar won first prize in all the national competitions in which he participated. At the age of twelve he brilliantly performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Cuba, which subsequently continued invited him to perform as a frequent guest soloist since.