Nirse González
Nirse González was born in Caracas in 1981 where he began guitar studies at the Escuela Superior de Música José Angel Lamas under José Gregorio Guánchez. His education continued at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid under José Luis Rodrigo Bravo and finished with best marks at the Robert Schumann Hochschule, Düsseldorf by Joaquin Clerch. He has also attended master classes by Eduardo Fernández, Alfonso Moreno, Arturo González, Alirio Díaz, Maria Pina Roberti, Tania Chanot, Claude Ballif and Costa Cotsiolis.
In 1996, at the age of fifteen, he performed Joaquín Rodrigo`s Aranjuez concert with the Vicente Emilio Sojo Orchestra in Venezuela and soon after won the first prize in the Antonio Lauro National Guitar Competition, where he also obtained a special mention and the prize granted by Yamaha Corporation. In 1997, he performed as a soloist a the IX Antonio Lauro International Guitar Encounter sharing the floor with artists such as Eduardo Fernández, Alirio Díaz, Tania Chanot and Alfonso Moreno; that year he won another Venezuelan first prize, that of the Raúl Borges National Guitar Competition. In 1998 he won the third prize at the Alirio Díaz International Guitar Competition, the first prize in the 1998 Antonio Lauro Competition and second soloist prize performing the Aranjuez concert with the Orquesta Filarmónica Nacional de Venezuela 1999, conducted by Pablo Castellanos. Nirse has continued playing on his own, in chamber music groups and as soloist with orchestras such as the Sinfónica Vicente Emilio Sojo, Orquesta Sinfónica Bolivariana , Orquesta Filarmónica Nacional de Venezuela, la Orquesta Ciudad de Almería, under the baton of Michael Thomas and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Valencia, Spain, conducted by Yaron Traub.
Nirse González has performed in many concert halls around the world, namely the Ríos Reina and José Félix Rivas of the Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas, the National Auditorium and Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, the National Auditorium Mohammed V of Rabat, the Municipal Theatre of Viña de Mar, the AUB University of Saint-Esprit of Kaslik, the Unesco Palace in Beirut, the Gomhuria Theatre of Cairo, the Alexandria Library and Cultural Centre Al Hussein, ras Al-Ain in Amman.
He took part in four Ibero-American Guitar Festivals organised in Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordania by the Cervantes Institutes in those countries and in the XI Bolivar Hall International Guitar Festival in April 2007.
In 2005 he was awarded the third prize at the Julian Arcas International Guitar Competition in Almería. In 2006 he won the first prize at the prestigious Francico Tárrega International Guitar Competition in Benicassim.
Discography: Laureate Series CD, guitar recital. Naxos.