Cristo Barrios (born 30 May 1976 in

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

, Spain) is a Spanish clarinetist, soloist and

chamber musician Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

Biography

Spanish clarinettist Cristo Barrios is recognized as one of the most exciting clarinettists of his generation. Future highlights include performances at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Spanish National Auditorium, his debut performance at the Konzerthaus Berlin, a recital at the Konzerthaus Wien, a recording for the Spanish National Radio (RNE2) and his debut performance at the South Bank Centre (Purcell Room) in London. Recent engagements have included performances with the Endellion and Arditti String Quartets, after his debut performance at the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

, his exciting tour with the Brodsky String Quartet and a brilliant debut recital at the Carnegie Hall. He has also performed at festivals such as Torroella de Montgrí and Sant Pere de Rodes in Spain, Langvad Music Days in Denmark and Llangollen International Music Festival in Wells (with a special broadcast for the S4Channel), among others.

Soloist and chamber musician

Barrios is a musician with a keen interest in

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

. His enthusiasm in this has resulted in the premières of Cantus Firmus (Wigmore Hall) and Clarinet Quintet (with the Arditti String Quartet) by Blai Soler. His ambition to explore new music has also led him to collaborate with important composers such as Joseph Horovitz, Tom Johnson (before touring his Tilework Series for solo clarinet in The Netherland, Poland, Czech Republic and France), and Esa-Pekka Salonen (before recording his Nachtlieder for Metier Records, a CD which also includes works for clarinet and piano by Bernstein, Bax –

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

broadcast-, Berg, Brotons and Honegger). His last CD, Composers of the 21st century in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, was recently released by RALS.

Awards

Major prizes include first prize and the gold medal at the Primer Palau Competition, playing the

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

Introduction, Theme and Variations in the Palau de la Música Hall, Barcelona, and the first prize at the CHAIN Concours Moderne in Riga. While studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he went on to win the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarship, held at St John's Smith Square and broadcast by the BBC3. After finishing his degree at the Royal Academy he recorded 'The Voice of the Clarinet' (Divine Art Records), an innovative disc of songs transcribed for clarinet and piano.http://www.helenpearse.co.uk/helen_pearse/cristo.html

Discography

*2006: The voice of the clarinet, with transcriptions of lied, Divine Art Records. *2007: Chamber music for orchestra, chamber music by Joaquim Homs, Naxos. *2008: Contemporary music for clarinet, Metier Records. *2008: Nuevas composiciones para clarinete, RALS.

External links

* http://www.cristo-barrios.com/ Official website * http://www.artistsinternational.com Artists International Management. * https://www.youtube.com/barrios38007 YouTube's channel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrios, Cristo 1976 births Spanish clarinetists Living people Spanish classical musicians People from Tenerife 21st-century clarinetists