Conchita Espinosa Concert Series: Josu Okiñena at the Rosita Segovia Theatre
Saturday, October 25, 2014 at 7:00pm
Friday, October 24th, we were honored to have Josu Okiñena visit CEA/CEC. On Friday he worked with our Middle School Choir on a Jota Aragonesa. In the afternoon he gave a wonderful Master Class to the Conservatory music students. Four of our most advanced pianists, Claudia Michiels (5th grade), Alejandro Fernandez (7th grade), Fernanda Miranda (8th grade), and Monica Gutierrez (9th grade, CEA '14) played for the Master Class. On Saturday he gave a beautiful concert for the CEA and local community. The program included a variety of works from Spain, ranging from Aita Donostia to Manuel de Falla.
We are extremely grateful to Josu for sharing his time and knowledge with our community. Thank you to the sponsors who made this program possible: El Centro Cultural de España, INEAM, Sony Classical, OE, and ExtePare, the Basque Institute.
Thank you to Ms. Loly Lopez, CEA Choir Director, Maestro Marlene Urbay, Head of the CEA Music Department, and all of the CEA/CEC music teachers for the wonderful work you have been doing with our students! We are so proud of our Music/Choral Departments!
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CEA Choir Works on Jota Aragonesa with Josu Okinena |
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Fernanda Miranda plays for Master Class with Josu Okinena at Conchita Espinosa Conservatory |
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Monica Gutierrez plays for Josu Okinena Master Class at Conchita Espinosa Conservatory of the Arts |
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Alejandro Fernandez plays for Master Class with Josu Okinena |
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Conchita Espinosa Concert Series: Josu Okiñena Plays at the Rosita Segovia Theatre
Saturday, October 25, 2014 at 7:00pm
Josu Okiñena (b. San Sebastián, 1971) divides his professional life between teaching and performing, taking a multidisciplinary and scientific approach to all areas of his career. He is currently Research Coordinator at Musikene, the Higher School of Music of the Basque Country, and has been awarded a doctorate by the University of Valladolid.
Having won first prizes at the San Sebastián Conservatory for both piano and chamber music, he went on to study with Félix Lavilla. He also won the principal end-of-course prize at the Madrid Conservatory, and in Santiago de Compostela was presented with the Andrés Segovia and José Miguel Ruiz Morales prize for performance of Spanish music.
He continued his studies at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York, working with Oxana Yablonskaya, and in London, where he took part in masterclasses given by such esteemed musicians as Krystian Zimerman, Bruno Leonardo Gelber and Ivo Pogorelich. He also took regular classes over a period of five years with Maria Curcio, herself a pupil of the legendary pianist Artur Schnabel. Having assimilated all these influences and combined them so as to create his own highly personal style,
now admired in concert halls the world over, Josu Okiñena returned to San Sebastián and became involved in the establishment of Musikene in 2001, taking on a teaching role there.
He has also taught postgraduate courses at various universities in Spain, Argentina, Cuba and Bolivia, as well as taking part in music research seminars at the Orpheus Institute in Ghent.Josu Okiñena has appeared at some of the world’s most prestigious venues and taken part in a number of international festivals, performing with renowned orchestras. In 2006, as part of his commitment to contemporary music – particularly that of his compatriots – he gave the premiere of Ignacio Tellería’s Piano
Concerto with the Basque National Orchestra.He has made several albums, notably the complete works for voice and piano by Félix Lavilla, recorded with Cecilia Lavilla Berganza, and the complete works for voice and piano of Padre Donostia, recorded with Almudena Ortega.
In March 2011 he was awarded the research prize of the Universidad del País Vasco and the Orfeón Donostiarra for his thesis on Padre Donostia entitled “Autopoietic communication, a basis for musical performance, with reference to the works for voice and piano of José Antonio Donostia”.Josu Okiñena has played concerts and has given scientific lectures at the University of Florida, University of Warsaw and has participated in the International Congress of Papyrology in Warsaw among others, and he has played in several international festivals.
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