Born in Palma de Mallorca in 1977, the violinist and conductor Gabriel Estarellas Pascual moved to Madrid at a very early age, where he began his musical studies. During his violin career he has given many performances as a soloist with orchestras, guest concertmaster, recitals and chamber music concerts with different ensembles in Europe and the United States. In 2002 he traveled to Switzerland to continue his studies and in 2004 he founded the string quartet Estarellas Quartett, in which he is still first violin. The quartet was awarded in the important Swiss competitions: ORPHEUS Swiss Chamber Music Competition and Kammermusikwettbewerb des Migros-Kulturprozent in 2007.
Also renowned is his facet as a conductor, Gabriel Estarellas Pascual has conducted important orchestral ensembles such as the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen (Switzerland), Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears (Spain), Polish Philharmonic Symphony Baltic (Poland), Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria), Akademisches Sinfonieorchester Sofia (Bulgaria), Camerata Antonio Soler (Spain), among others. In 2008, he was appointed principal conductor and artistic director of the Jugendorchester Thurgau and from 2014 to 2024 he has been chief conductor of the Orchesterverein Zürich. His repertoire covers all periods and styles, from baroque to contemporary, symphonic and operatic music. Thanks to his outstanding pedagogical and artistic activity together with the Jugendorchester Thurgau, he was awarded in 2013 with the Culture Prize of Thurgau and in 2016 with the Culture Prize of the city of Amriswil.
Throughout his musical career as a violinist and conductor he has been invited to numerous international festivals and concert series, among which we must highlight: Trecastagni International Music Festival in Sicily, Festival der ORPHEUS-Konzerte in Zürich, IV Festival International de Guitare de Paris, Malaga International Music Festival, Musiksommer am Zürichsee, Abendmusik Bergün, Santander International Festival, Kuressaare Chamber Music Days in Estonia, Konzerte Kloster Fischingen, International Bodenseefestival, CNDM Cycle in Madrid, Oviedo Music Festival, Kartause Ittingen Konzerte, Segovia International Music Festival, León Spanish Music Festival, Texas Music Festival of Houston, etc. He has also performed in prestigious halls such as: National Auditorium of Spain (Madrid), Auditorium 400 of the Reina Sofia Center of Madrid, Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando (Madrid), Salle Cortot of Paris, Tonhalle St. Gallen, ADDA of Alicante, Konzertkirche Neubrandenburg, etc. And he has also shared the stage with renowned musicians such as: Isabel Rey, Kurt Meier, Chiara Enderle, Ilker Arcayürek, Michael Reid, Seth Quistad, Thomas Grossenbacher, etc.
Always very interested in Spanish music and in the diffusion of new works, he has performed the world premieres of composers such as: Gabriel Estarellas, Zulema de la Cruz, Robert Coinel, Raul Maldonado, Javier Hagen, Maria Porten, Carlos Cruz de Castro, Daniel Fueter, Pedro Ximenez Abril Tirado, Robert Elkjer, etc. He is a great connoisseur of the chamber music works of the maestro Antón García Abril, being in charge of the absolute premieres of the following works: Chamber music for violin and piano, Cuarteto para el nuevo milenio, quartet La misteriosa forma del tiempo, the quintet with piano Alba de los caminos, the quintet with voice Rubaiyat and his song cycles for voice and quartet Canciones de noche y estrellas and Canciones del jardín secreto.
His concerts have been broadcast and recorded live by European radio and television stations such as DRS2, Espace 2, RNE, etc., with works by J. Haydn, C. Debussy, F. Martin, A. Dvorak, among others. He has also produced 3 CDs with the Jugendorchester Thurgau with the following works: Symphony No. 7 by L. v. Beethoven, Concerto for piano and orchestra by E. Grieg, Symphony No. 9 The New World by A. Dvorak, Ballade by the Swiss composer Daniel Fueter for accordion and string orchestra and An English Suite by Hubert Parry. Together with the Estarellas Quartett a CD for the SELLO AUTOR, with works by Antón García Abril, containing the quintet with piano Alba de los Caminos and Cuarteto para el nuevo milenio, CD that was very well received by the critics, qualified by the specialized magazine RITMO as magnificent interpretations of the Estarellas Quartet and receiving the highest score, he was also nominated in 2008 to the Premios de la Música in Spain.
Gabriel Estarellas Pascual studied music at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid and at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (Switzerland) with professors Victor Martín, Rudolf Koelman and the Carmina Quartett, being given the Superior Title of Violin and Master of Chamber Music in the specialization of String Quartet. During his period of studies, he received scholarships from important institutions such as: the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Música en Compostela, the University of Houston (USA) and the Bruno Schuler-Stiftung (Switzerland). At the same time, he was invited to take violin and chamber music courses with maestros Nobu Wakabayashi, Emile Cantor, Andrzej Grabiec, Nora Chastain, Thomas Demenga and Lucie Robert, among others. After his instrumental apprenticeship, he began his postgraduate studies in the specialty of Orchestra Conductor at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, obtaining with High Honors the Orchestral Conducting Diploma, and is regularly invited to international conducting courses by the maestros Prof. Jorma Panula, Prof. Atso Almila, etc.
Gabriel Estarellas Pascual plays a period violin by the Italian luthier Joannes Franciscus Pressenda, built in 1843 in Turin.
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