Ignacio Rodes Biography

First Prize winner of five international competitions, including the prestigious ‘Andrés Segovia’, ‘Francisco Tárrega’ and ‘José Ramirez’, Ignacio Rodes is internationally considered to be one of the best guitarists of his generation.

His mother, who started teaching him at the age of eight, awakened his love for music. A native of Alicante, Spain, he studied at the Conservatorio Superior ‘Oscar Esplá’ of his own town, under José Tomás and took part in courses with D. Russell, M. Barrueco and J. Williams, among others. During the period 1983-86, Rodes received a grant from the British Council and the Spanish Ministry of Culture to study Early Music and instrumental music of J. S. Bach in London.

He made his debut at the Wigmore Hall (London) in 1986. Since then, Rodes has been very successful playing in concert halls such as Alte Oper (Frankfurt), Alice Tully Hall-Lincoln Center (New York),Performing Art's Center (San Francisco), Chopin’s Museum (Warsaw), Palau de la Música (Barcelona), Auditorio Nacional (Madrid), Sala Nezahualcoyotl (México), Opera Theatre of Cairo, etc. He has been invited to perform at international festivals in most of the European countries, United States and South America, as well as to conduct master classes at Conservatories like Manhattan School of Music (New York), Guildhall School of Music (London), Bloomington School of Music (Indiana University, USA) and University of Washington (Seattle, USA). Ignacio Rodes has broadcast on many European and American television and radio stations.

He has played with the English Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Simfonica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Joven Orquesta Nacional de España, Hartford Simphony Orchestra, Theatre Hermitage's Camerata of St. Petesburg, Orchestre de Picardie, etc. Discography includes four cds recorded in London.

His performances and his recordings have been praised as: ‘…Rodes was a revelation’ (GFA Festival, Soundboard Magazine, USA); ‘…in the hands of Ignacio Rodes the expressive possibilities of the guitar are infinite…’ (Festival Internacional de Guanajato, Excelsior, México; ‘…Ignacio Rodes has done it triumphantly…the excellent performance makes this CD [Sonatas for Guitar] unmissable…’ (Classical Guitar Magazine, Great Britain); ‘…Rodes is one of our finest guitarists and most important, one of our performers with higher musical sensitivity and wider stylistic versatility. This facts are being well known in Spain an outside Spain, as they should be.’ (Scherzo Magazine, Spain). ‘This is one of the best guitar CDs this year…Rodes reveals himself as capable of recovering the traditional high reputation for Spanish guitarists in the international scene…’ (Ritmo Magazine, Spain).