Rodrigo Riera, was a Venezuelan guitarist and composer.
22 Facts About Rodrigo Riera
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Rodrigo Riera wrote a vital and important body of works for the guitar, inspired by and dedicated to the rich musical legacy of his region in the Lara state in Western Venezuela, displaying a loving nationalism that led him to be associated with the work of Antonio Lauro but with a technique that is more accessible to beginners and intermediate guitar players.
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Rodrigo Riera was an important educator of the classical guitar.
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Rodrigo Riera was born in the township of Barrio Nuevo, in the city of Carora, in the state of Lara, in midwestern Venezuela.
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Rodrigo Riera's father, Juan Teodosio Querales, was a music teacher.
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Rodrigo Riera grew up with his mother, Paula Antonia Riera and his five older siblings.
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Lauro was so impressed with Rodrigo Riera's playing, that he wrote a letter recommending him to his teacher.
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Life's circumstances made it difficult for Rodrigo Riera to start studies under Borges until 1945.
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Rodrigo Riera started his studies in the Real Conservatorio de Musica y Declamacion in Madrid in 1952.
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In 1954, Rodrigo Riera married Julia Esteban Esteban in Spain and established Madrid as his main place of residence.
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Rodrigo Riera performed many guitar duo concerts with his friend Alirio Diaz.
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Rodrigo Riera ended up staying for years, consolidating his triple career as composer, concert guitarist and teacher.
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Rodrigo Riera composed the prelude Elorac which features a very daring harmonic structure and style that predates the works of modern guitar composers such as Leo Brouwer, Roland Dyens and Carlo Domeniconi.
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Rodrigo Riera performed many times on different stages and concert halls in the US East Coast both as a solo guitarist and as featured soloist with an orchestra.
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Rodrigo Riera was a popular member of New York's Society of the Classic Guitar.
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Rodrigo Riera frequented Mirko's Restaurant, a salon frequented by luminaries of the New York guitar scene, namely Vladimir Bobri, Gregory d'Alessio, and Segovia's inner circle.
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Rodrigo Riera collaborated with the Robert Joffrey Ballet Company arranging a work for guitar and orchestra, Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto in D-Major for Violin, Strings, a Cembalo, Pincherle 151 which he performed many times.
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Rodrigo Riera established himself in Barquisimeto, in 1971, where he created a music studies program for the Universidad Centro Occidental Lisandro Alvarado.
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Rodrigo Riera spent his last years composing and teaching further.
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Rodrigo Riera's presence was often a cherished sight at guitar festivals in Caracas and other cities, where he held informal meetings and fraternal conversations with other guitarists of fame, like Alirio Diaz, Leo Brouwer, David Russell, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, and of course his many pupils, several of which are now celebrities.
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Rodrigo Riera wrote valses, danzas, joropos, golpes, gaitas, merengues and even a few choros.
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Rodrigo Riera's compositions are not easy to catalog or categorize, as there is a copious assortment of notable compositions from his years in Spain, like Choro.