Julia Villarroel

JULIA

Villarroel

PERFORMER

Julia Villarroel is an international soloist whose career began at a very young age in her home country, having performed hundreds of solo, ensemble, and guitar duo concerts inside and outside her country. She was involved in the cultural movement “Guitarrea” organizing over seven international festivals, where she performed in the most renowned theaters in Ecuador.

Between 2010 and 2016, while living in Ecuador, she won several international competitions, some of them being the youngest and only women among the contestants. She traveled to international festivals in Spain and Venezuela sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of Ecuador and recorded 2 CDs in Ensemble and duo respectively. Due to her extensive musical career at such a young age, Julia was named a “Member of the Culture House of Ecuador” in 2016.

Julia began her higher education in Vigo, Spain, with the Professor Margarita Escarpa. She graduated in 2021 with the highest honors and received a “Matricula de Honor”. Her final thesis on the “History of Academic Guitar in Ecuador” received the same top marks.

She began her master’s degree in 2021 at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar with Professor Thomas Müller-Pering, graduating with the highest honors. Thanks to her long-standing career, she has received annual scholarships, including the “Deutschlandstipendium” and the “Charlotte-Krupp Stipendium.”

“Salgado en seis cuerdas” (“Salgado in Six Strings”) is a self-managed project consisting of 40 minutes of piano music by the Ecuadorian composer Luis Humberto Salgado transcribed for guitar by herself. The CD “Salgado en seis cuerdas” (JSM Records) was released in December 2023 with the collaboration of Lucija Štivčević and the sponsorship of the Neue Liszt Stiftung. The music scores will be published with JSM Editions in the upcoming months.

As an orchestral soloist, Julia has performed the “Concierto de Aranjuez” in Spain and Germany. Her orchestral repertoire also includes “Concierto del Sur” by Ponce and Salgado’s “Ecuadorian Concerto”.

In April 2025 Julia will begin the Konzertexamen (Concert Examination) with Professor Ricardo Gallén.

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Jonathan Ross Parkin

JONATHAN

Ross Parkin

PERFORMER

Jonathan Ross Parkin, born in Teesside in the northeast of England, has established himself as a sensitive and highly versatile musician of the highest caliber. Jonathan has performed in prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, Palau les Arts (Valencia), The Barbican, and L’Auditori (Barcelona).

Jonathan’s expressive, colorful, and virtuosic playing has brought him success in more than fifteen major international competitions, including the Certamen Llobet (2nd Prize, Audience Award 2018, and Llobet Prize 2020), the London International Guitar Competition (2nd Prize 2020), the Concurso Ciudad de Elche (Audience Award 2023), and the Ivor Mariants Prize (3rd Prize 2017), among others.

Currently based in Valencia, in 2025 he recorded his debut album, Alba Nova, with JSM Records, set for release in 2026 and is a professor at the Escuela Superior de Música Alto Rendimiento
(ESMAR). He balances his teaching and performing activities with his role as artistic director of the Jornades Socarrades de Guitarra in Xàtiva, Spain.

VIDEOS

Audio produced by Javier Salvador
Video by Lilium Sound Art

Audio produced by Javier Salvador
Video by Lilium Sound Art

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Jonas Egholm

JONAS

Egholm

PERFORMER

Jonas Egholm (1997, Danmark) started playing the guitar at age seven, and by the time he was ten he went on his first concert tour around Denmark and Germany in connection with being awarded the 1st prize in the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s competition for young musicians. He has attained wide international recognition and performed in several countries in Europe including Germany, France, Spain, Faroe Islands, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro Hungary, China and Japan. He has performed with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, South Denmark Philharmonic Orchestra and others. In 2020 he won the first prize in the International Guitar Competition José Tomás Villa de Petrer, whereafter he is performing concerts in both Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico as well as having recorded this CD.

Jonas has finished his Bachelor and Masters degree on the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, Denmark with highest marks, and is now completing the soloist programme for the most talented students of this Academy. He owes his significant musical achievements mostly to his guitar professor Jesper Sivebæk.

In 2020-2021, he studied in “Máster en Interpretación de Guitarra” in Alicante, Spain under some of the world’s leading guitarists (David Russell, Ricardo Gallén, Hopkinson Smith, Lukasz Kuropaczewski, Tilman Hoppstock, Roberto Aussel, Ignacio Rodés and others), where he graduated with highest marks and Honours.

Currently, Jonas is an active performer and teacher, tutoring guitarists of all levels and ages in Denmark.

Jonas has won more than 15 competitions and received numerous prizes and awards, most recently:

– 1st prize, Guimaraes International Guitar Competition, Portugal.

– The Jacob Gade Grand Award 2021, delegated to the most prominent musicians in Denmark.

– The Carl Nielsen & Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Award 2021, delegated to the most prominent musicians in Denmark.

– Leonie Sonnings Talent Award 2020, delegated to the most prominent musicians in Denmark.

– 1st prize, International Guitar Festival José Tomás Villa de Petrer

– 1st prize, Sarajevo International Guitar Competition 2019 (Category V)

– Euro Strings Artist, 2019/2020

– 2nd prize, the Royal Danish Academy of Music Scholarship Competition, 2019

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Joao Carlos Victor

JOAO CARLOS

Victor

PERFORMER

Winner of numerous international competitions, such as the Francisco Tárrega International Guitar Competition 2015 and the Vienna International Music Competition 2021, João Carlos Victor has been invited both as a performer and teacher to renowned festivals, concert series and radio and television programs in Switzerland, Norway, Spain, Brazil, Liechtenstein, Austria, Belgium and Romania.

His debut CD Guitar Recital was released by the Naxos label in 2016 and was praised by critics. The repertoire ranges from the Renaissance with three chromatic fantasies by John Dowland to the present day with the first recording of Répeter by Paulo Rios Filho, composed in 2014. In May 2023, João’s second CD I call to You with his own transcriptions of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Robert de Viseé was released on the JSM Records label.

His interest in contemporary music gave him the opportunity to collaborate with composers of great reputation such as: Sofia Gubaidulina, Paulo Costa Lima, Wellington Gomes, Leonardo Boccia and Paulo Rios Filho. The piece Répéter, which resulted from the collaboration with the composer Paulo Rios Filho, was awarded at the X Boston GuitarFest composition competition (USA) in 2015.

João has also devoted his attention to Early Music, studying with specialists in this field such as: lutenists Peter Croton, Julian Behr and harpsichordist Bettina Seeliger. In addition, he attended also special courses and master classes with Paul O´Dette (lute), Eduardo Egüez (lute), Marieke Spaans (harpsichordist, the last student of Gustav Leonhardt) and the duo Maccari-Pugliese (guitar duo specialized in music from the XIX century).

João holds master’s degrees in Musicology, Music Performance and Specialized Musical Performance – Soloist (Soloist Diploma) from world-renowned universities such as the University of Bern (Switzerland), the Musikhochschule Basel (Switzerland), the Musikhochschule Luzern (Switzerland) and the Musikhochschule Nürnberg (Germany).

Currently he is Professor of guitar and chamber music at the LUCA School of Arts (Lemmensinstituut, Belgium) and maintains an international concert career.

AUDIO RECORDINGS

GUITAR RECITAL

Published by Naxos.
Sound Engineer: Javier Salvador
(2016)

VIDEOS

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Ignacio Barra

IGNACIO

Barra

PERFORMER

Classical guitarist, arranger and orchestra conductor from Viña del Mar.

He graduated with the highest distinction in the career of Musical Interpretation, mention in Classical Guitar at the Institute of Music of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (Chile). As a performer, he has performed in Chile and abroad, giving concerts in Easter Island, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Bolivia, among others. Highlights in his career include winning awards in various music performance competitions, the most recent being his First Place in the International Guitar Competition “Miguel Llobet” 2018 in Barcelona, one of the most prestigious classical guitar competitions in the world.

In 2014, he released his first solo album entitled “I: Chilean Composers”, a work in which he only includes premieres of works by national composers (many of them written especially for him). Together with Belstrings – Cuarteto de Cuerdas Moderno, the group he conducts, he has performed concerts in Chile and Spain, appearing in various national and international media, as well as premiering his album entitled “Te Amaré”. He also highlights his role as orchestra conductor, being in charge of the Orquesta del Gran Valparaíso and the Orquesta del PCdV, filming with the latter scenes of the movie “Love & Justice: In Footsteps of Beethoven’s Rebel Opera” by the American filmmaker Kerry Candaele.

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