Huáscar Barradas

Infobox Person
name= Huáscar Barradas


caption=
birth_date= 1964
birth_place= Maracaibo, Venezuela

Born in Maracaibo, 1964, the Venezuelan flutist Huáscar Barradas has deserved eulogies such as the one given by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemaine Zeitung: “Mr. Barradas transported us to the expressive spectrum of the flute, beyond of what our European ears are used to. He shined with absolute rhythmic precision and virtuosity…”

To widespread the spectrum of possibilities of the flute has been, precisely, the main purpose of this particular and versatile musician who can be seen on the stages of the world performing virtually any musical stream from Bach to the Beatles, as a soloist, as a symphonic musician, playing chamber music, contemporary music, folk music, flamenco, jazz or African music. To him and his flute, everything seems to be “just music".

His talent has taken him to important stages in Venezuela, U.S., Japan, Germany, France, England, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Colombia, Peru, Martinique, Aruba and El Salvador. He has represented Venezuela at important festivals such as Radio France et Montpellier Festival, European Flute Festival of Frankfurt, Expo-Hannover 2000, National Flute Association Convention 2000, the International Contemporary Music Festival of Bogotá, International Festival of Folklore in Turkey, 1st Latin American Flute Convention in Caracas, XII International Musica Convention of Medellin, among others. He has produced six CDs with his Venezuelan music band “Huáscar Barradas y Maracaibo”. In addition to it, he has recorded as soloist with the National Phylharmonic Orchestra the piece specially written for him by the Venezuelan composer Domingo Sánchez Bor, “Viaje de la Jirafa” (Journey of the Giraffe). Huáscar is the product of an excellent academic education which includes studies at the "Conservatorio de Música José Luis Paz" of Maracaibo in Venezuela, the Brooklyn Conservatory of New York (graduated Cum Laude), the Juilliard School of Music, the Superior School of Music of Frankfurt (Sehr gut). He has studied under the supervision of Maestros such as Eulogio Gómez, Bernard Golberg, Nirijam Nastasy, Robert Aitken, Aurele Nicolet, Peter Lukas Graf, Michael Scheneider, among others. He studied orchestral conducting with Vincent La Selva and Karoly Kope, and Jazz with Shelton Berg and Ron Carter. He is a founder member of the Estudiantina Juvenil and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Zulia State. He won the Texas Junior College Competition in 1983. He was sponsored by the Society for the Professional Development of Young Artists of Hannover, Germany.

He has been granted important scholarships such as the German Academic Exchange Service and the Fundación Beracasa. In addition to it, he has also been granted the Order of Merit “Relámpago del Catatumbo" given by the Government of Zulia State, and the Order of Merit “Ciudad de Barquisimeto”. He has been principal assistant flutist of the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra and the National Philharmonic Orchestra, and now occupies this same position at the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Caracas.He has performed with important artists who at the same time have been special guest performers to his concerts, like Maestro Simón Díaz, María Teresa Chacín,Cecilia Todd , Ilan Chester, Guaco, Pedro Castillo, Aldemaro Romero, “El Pavo” Frank Hernández, Martirio, and Chavela Vargas.

As a professor, he has worked at the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and taught his course “The art of performing the flute” at different Conservatories in and out of Venezuela. Nowadays, he is a Professor of flute at the "Instituto Universitario de de Estudios Musicales" in Caracas, thus completing his busy professional agenda.

Personal life

He was married to Kharla Aranguren an arquitech. They'd got married in 2001 but divorced one year later.A song was dedicated to her in his CD WORLD.

External links

* [http://www.huascarbarradas.com/ Huáscar Barras Official website]
* [http://www.sincopa.com/ethnic/artists1/huascar_barradas.htm Huáscar Barradas Discography]