The pianist and professor Esteban Ocaña is currently positioned as one of the most versatile profiles in the world of culture, interpretation and the academic sector as regards the field of music and interpretation in Spain.
The diversity of his training, as well as the different responsibilities played throughout his career, have turned this Spanish pianist into a character whose versatility is his hallmark.
Its scenic activity, its prolific teaching activity in the university and music conservatories, its capacity and stimulation in cultural management as well as its inescapable leadership in cultural projects of different sectors of the scenic field, place Esteban Ocaña in a privileged place when facing international and multidisciplinary challenges and initiatives.
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"Esteban Ocaña interpreted a varied program in which he showed a portentous virtuosity ability"
Juan Miguel Moreno Calderón / CORDOBA DAILY
".... the safety of Ocaña, his great use of the pedal and the abundant rubato achieved moments of romantic ecstasy"
Esteban Belinchón / EL MUNDO DAILY
Born in Linares-Jaén-Spain in 1975. He has a degree in Piano and Chamber Music from the "Rafael Orozco" Conservatory of Music in Córdoba (Prof. Rafael Quero). Artist Certificate in Piano Performance by the Meadows School of Arts at Southern Methodist University, Dallas / TX / USA with the spanish teacher Joaquín Achúcarro. Additionally it is perfected with masters such as Paul Badura Skoda, Hans Graf, Dimitri Bashkirov and Férénc Rados among others.
He develops a prolific artistic career both as a soloist and as a member of various chamber music formations, performing in the United States, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.
He is a founding member of Versus Ensemble, training with which he has achieved success and international recognition among which the 4th Prize in the Piazzolla Music Awards (Italy 2003) and the Diploma of Honor in the Chamber Music modality of the TIM / International Tournament stand out di Musica (Rome 2004). Together with Versus Ensemble he has made recordings for NAXOS label (8.570523) and collaborations with artists like Horacio Ferrer, Enrique Morente, María Rey-Joly, among others.
He has made recordings for various media, including TVE1, Cadena Ser, RNE2 and Canal Sur, in Spain, Continental Radio in Argentina, RAI in Italy, BBC Radio3 in England, Radio 4 in the Netherlands, WCMU Radio and Houston Public Radio in the United States United and ABC Classic FM in Australia. As well as record commitments with labels such as EMI, NAXOS INTERNATIONAL and ODRADEK RECORDS.
His facet related to academic and artistic management is developed as Executive and Artistic Director of ArtMusic, an institution that since 2006, leads academic and artistic projects of international scope as “Grandes Maestros de Cerca”, Postgraduate Studies of UNIA, Music in the Albaicín, The Academy of the International Festival of Music and Dance "Ciudad de Úbeda".
Since 1993 he has been a professor tenure of piano at various Spanish Conservatories. Since 2008 he is director of the master's degree in musical performance of the International University of Andalusia (Spain).
He is invited as teacher in various academic centers, among which the postgraduate program in interpretation of the UNIA, where he has been part of the faculty, together with colleagues such as Jorge Luís Prats, Dmitri Alexeev, J. Achúcarro and Pascal Rogé.
Since 2007 he has been Director of the postgraduate studies in musical interpretation of the International University of Andalusia where he directs the Master's Degree in Musical Performance.
In recent years he has focused his artistic activity on two projects mainly, on the one hand ITURRALDE PROJECT (NAXOS 8.573429), dedicated to the music of Spanish composer Pedro Iturralde with the saxophonist Juan M. Jiménez Alba, and LE GRAND TANGO, a project with Astor Piazzolla music for two pianos, together with the italian pianist Domenico Codispoti.
Actually is artistic director of the "Music in the International" at the UNIA University, work that combines with the direction of “THE ACADEMY” of the International Festival of Music and Dance "Ciudad de Úbeda" and his responsibility as piano teacher and Director of the Conservatory of Music "Andrés Segovia" of Linares (Jaén).
More info about Esteban Ocaña:
http://www.artmusiconline.org/esteban/
