JAVIER CONTRERAS

 

Guitarist and composer born in the Chilean Patagonia. Recognised by peers as possessing great technical excellence and considered by many as one of the most brilliant composers of his generation, having in his repertoire a large quantity of pieces for solo instruments, chamber music, orchestras and choirs. As a composer he has been largely self-taught and as a guitarist his main influences have been his father, Manuel Contreras and recognised Chilean guitarist, Jose Antonio Escobar. He won: 1st prize in the “Boston Guitar Fest” composition competition (Boston, USA) 1st prize in the Lisker Music Foundation composition competition (Chicago, USA) 1st prize in Black Cedar Inaugural Commissioning Competition 1st prize in the Liliana Perez Coroy national classical guitar competition (Chile) 3rd prize in the Miguel Llovet classical guitar competition (Barcelona, Spain) 3rd prize in the “International Guitar Festival Rust” composition competition (Austria) He has toured, performing concerts, recordings and masterclasses in the Japan, USA, Spain, England and India and has participated in the most important guitar festivals in South America, such as the “Festival Guitarras del Mundo” in Argentina among other important festivals in Brazil, Peru, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay. His music has been recorded by the award-winning guitarist José Antonio Escobar in the disc “Guitar Music of Chile” on the NAXOS label (Canada) as well as on various independent records of his own music. The prominent publication “Mel Bay” in the United States has published a number of his pieces and also the specialized classical guitar magazine “Gendai Guitar” in Japan. During the year 2015 he was invited to inaugurate the Kirchner cultural centre by way of a concert in the main hall of the center, currently the biggest in Latin America. Prestigious musicians from across the world have performed his pieces, among them the guitarists Ana Vidovic (USA-Croatia), Petri Kumela (Finland), Shin-Ichi Fukuda (Japón), Graham Davine (England), Eduardo Fernandez (Uruguay), Esteban Espinoza and Romilio Orellana (Chile), the cellist Alexander Ramm (Russia), Duo Ribeira-Leite (Brazil), the violinist David Lisker (USA), the violist Kimberly Sparr (USA),the Catholic University of Valparaiso Chamber Orchestra, University of Santiago Orchestra, the Mikkeli City Orchestra (Finland), LSU Strings directed by Dennis Parker and grammy-award winning Duo Halasz (Germany). He has been part of a number of chamber music groups, among them "Dúo sudamericano", ensemble “Extremo Sur”, "Dúo Arandú” and "Madera y Lumbre Duo" (cello and guitar)