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Header 'Luis Enrique Vargas, violist' with mi picture and mi viola  

 

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Violist Luis Enrique Vargas  is a member of the Euclid Quartet since 2001 and teaches viola and chamber music at Indiana University South Bend where he was appointed Lecturer in 2007.

Born in Venezuela and brought up in a family of musicians he was first introduced to the music world at age 14 when he became a member of the internationally renowned "El Sistema" of the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra. With them he quickly established a good reputation for his talent and dedication for the viola.


Luis Vargas. Photo Mc Donald, 2009

 

 

During his formative years he studied at the Vicente Emilio Sojo and the Simon Bolivar Conservatories of Music in Venezuela.

He moved to North America in 1997 where he pursued a Diploma in Chamber Music at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, guided by the Penderecki String Quartet. He resides in the United States since the fall of that year. While in the US he obtained a Master’s Degree in Music Performance from Miami University of Ohio and a Performer’s Certificate from Northern Illinois University where he studied with Richard Young, violist of the Vermeer Quartet. Throughout his career, Mr. Vargas has studied with many internationally known musicians. Among them are Jose Manuel Roman, Richard Young, Gerard Causee, Li-Kuo Chang, James Dunham, Michael Tree, Earl Carlyss, and the Penderecki, Vermeer and Emerson string quartets.

With the Euclid Quartet he was awarded the Bronze Medal at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan in 2005, the Grand Prize at the Hugo Kauder International Music Competition at Yale University in 2004 and second place at the Chamber Music Yellow Spring Competition in Ohio in 2003. Relevant performances with the Euclid Quartet include venues such as Izumi Hall In Osaka, Japan, Weill Recital Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City and Harris Hall at the Aspen Music Festival.

He is currently a member of the Recording Academy (the Grammy Awards organization), as well as an adjudicator for the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and a member of the board of directors of the Hugo Kauder Society and advisor for their International Music Competition.

Among his current projects, the recording of a full cycle of Bela Bartók's string quartets is in the works. The recording of the first set with the even-numbered quartets Nos. 2, 4 and 6 was released in May, 2010 under Artek Label. In July of 2011 the quartet will record the second set with quartets Nos. 1, 3 and 5. The first Bartok recording has won great reviews from Gramophone, All Music Guide and American Record Guide. The quartet previously released a recording of 4 of 19 string quartets by Austrian composer Hugo Kauder under Centaur Record Label. 

He was a member of the Cuarteto America (1995-1999) with which he performed extensively throughout Venezuela and in Luxembourg, Germany, Colombia, Mexico, Canada and the United States. With the Cuarteto he attended international music festivals such as Norfolk (CT), Great Lakes (MI), Round Top (TX), and attended the International Music Symposium "Strings of the Future" in Ottawa, Canada in 1997.

With the orchestras of "El Sistema," namely the Lara Symphony and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra, he performed in multiple tours to Brazil, Curaçao, Spain and France over the span of 9 yeas. With the Simon Bolivar Orchestra he recorded "Latino-American Lollipops" a compilation of Latino-American masterpieces under Dorian Label.

  

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