Alexis Cardenas

 

Alexis Cardenas is a Venezuelan violinist, teacher, arranger, and composer born (in Maracaibo, Venezuela) on March 24, 1976.  (Maracaibo is in northwest Venezuela, about 300 miles west of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.)  He is one of Venezuela’s leading violinists and is well known for doing a lot of crossover work with one group known as Recoveco.  Here is an audio file of a studio recording which is typical of their style.  Cardenas is a leading exponent of Venezuelan folk music, although his formal training is entirely in (and from) the classical realm.  His arrangements of traditional Latin American folk music incorporate classical music, often including direct quotes, especially of Bach violin sonatas.  For the past 25 years, his home base has been Paris, France, where he is co-concertmaster of the Orchestre National d'Île-de-France (National Orchestra of the Isle of France or National Orchestra of the Region of France, an area which is made up of eight districts immediately surrounding Paris.)  The orchestra was established in 1974 and serves a population of approximately twelve million people.  Its main venue is the Philharmonie de Paris.  Here is a YouTube video of the orchestra performing a theatrical piece for narrator and orchestra, Ondin and the Little Mermaid (Ondin et la Petit Sirène.)  Here is another featuring a rather unique presentation of two Tchaikovsky works.  Another unique performance - this time of a Scarlatti Sonata - is here – it is reminiscent of what Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto sometimes does in some of his performances.  Cardenas began his violin studies at age 9 in Maracaibo.  Among his first teachers was Jose Baldaen.  He made his public debut at age 12 (one source says age 11) with the Maracaibo Symphony, playing the Mendelssohn concerto (the one in e minor.)  A year later (1989), he soloed with the Tchaikovsky concerto, but I don’t know with what orchestra.  He began his studies at the Juilliard school in New York in 1990.  (One source says he left for New York in 1992.)  His teacher there was Margaret Pardee – many young violinists from Venezuela studied with Pardee.  Three years later, at age 15, Cardenas returned to Venezuela and was appointed concertmaster of the National Philharmonic.  He was also a guest soloist with every major orchestra in Venezuela during this time.  At age 17 (1995) he left Venezuela for Paris where he enrolled at the National Conservatory for Music and Dance.  His teacher there was Olivier Charlier but he also studied with Jean Kantorow and Roland Dugareuil later on.  He entered his first violin competition (Tibor Varga in Switzerland) in 1997.  He has concertized in Europe, Russia, Canada, and South America, working with well-known conductors, including Pavel Kogan, Alondra de la Parra, Pablo Ziegler, and Gustavo Dudamel.  I do not know if he has ever toured the U.S.  He has won silver and bronze medals in various violin competitions, including the Paganini violin competition in Genoa in 2002 and Montreal violin competition in 2003.  His best-known studio recording is “Stories Without Words” which is easily found on the internet.  Cardenas is currently composing a violin concerto which will incorporate non-traditional instruments (mostly from Caribbean countries and South America) in a symphonic score.  It should be completed within the next year.  He has stated that his motivation is his enormous curiosity.  I do not know what violin he plays.