BIOGRAPHY

“Oliver and José María stand out for their amazing virtuosity and for their maturity in four-hands piano performance”AVUI (February 2003)

“...they stand out as one of the best four hands piano performers in Spain”. LAS CRÓNICAS DE LEÓN/EL MUNDO (may 2004)

 

OLIVER & JOSÉ MARÍA CURBELO

 

  Oliver & José María Curbelo are brother and twins and form a vibrant piano duo. Sixteen years of such labour and over one hundred concert performances is the measure of the Duo Curbelo career to date. The public and review has been quick to recognise their value.

 They were born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) in 1980. They began their piano studies at age 7 and got their music degrees in piano, chamber music and accompaniment at the Conservatorio Superior de Música at 18. Then they went on to study with the hungarian professor Ferenc Rados at Alcalá de Henares University (1999). After that they moved to Barcelona to complete their Master in Spanish Music for piano solo and piano duo as students of Alicia de Larrocha and Carlota Garriga at the prestigious Marshall Academy (Barcelona). Since 2003 they have been piano professors at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias. In addition they are pursuing their doctorate at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria University.

   They have won some scholarships from Canary Islands Government, Council of Gran Canaria and Centro de Estudios Pianísticos to get masterclasses from Karin Merle, Eugène Moguilevsky, Andrzej Jasinski, Alexis Golovine, Barry Douglas, Alan Weiss, Solomon Mikowsky, Jan Wijn, Ramón Coll, Paul Badura-Skoda, Charles Rosen, Carmen Bravo Vda. de Mompou, Neal P. Da Costa, Jesús A. Rodríguez and Almudena Cano among others.

The twin brothers have performed an extensive repertoire for piano duo. In addition to the spanish music and traditional repertoire they perform works by alive canarian and catalan composers, such as A. Guinovart, C. Garriga, C. Díaz Pestano, M. Bonino, etc., with whom they work directly.

Curbelo duo have been invited to perform in several halls in Spain, Holland, Argentina and Chile, such as: Alfredo Kraus Auditorium (Gran Canaria), the CaixaForum Auditorium (Barcelona), Juan March Fundation and Centro Cultural Conde Duque (Madrid), Ateneo de Madrid, Cajacanarias Auditorium (Tenerife), National Museum of Fine Arts (Buenos Aires), Sala Augusta (Menorca), Kasteel Groeneveld (Baarn, Holand), San Martín Theater (Tucumán, Argentina), Palau Maricell (Sitges), Academia de Belles Arts de Sabadell, Casa Canals (Tarragona), C.I.C.C.A. and Teatro Pérez Galdós (Gran Canaria), Green Caves Auditorium (Lanzarote), etc., and other cities such as León, San Sebastián, Manresa and Castellón. They have performed recitals dedicated to Xavier Montsalvatge (Girona) and invited to perform in some international piano festivals such as "Semanas Musicales" in Frutillar (Chile), "48th Septiembre Musical Tucumano" (Argentina), "Pianistas Notables 2008" (Buenos Aires), Baarnse Musiekkring (Holland), Summer Festivals in Pals and Lloret de Mar (Girona), "Música de Cámara de una Nueva Europa" (the Fundation Carlos de Amberes Auditorium, Madrid), and the first performance of "Canciones Canarias" for two pianos and choir by the argentinian composer Ostaschinsky (Alfredo Kraus Auditorium and Paraninfo de la Universidad de La Laguna), among others.

Their performance of the work "Ensayo a Dos" for two pianos by Garriga has been included in a 2CD project of the composer, recorded in 2006 for Columna Música and they have also recorded for spanish and argentinian radio and T.V. Some TV programmes have chosen their performances for several advertising campaign ("Panorama Canario" in 1992, "Claves" in 2003 and 2004).

Duo Curbelo made their orchestral debut with Gran Canaria Philharnomic Orchestra performing the Concerto in D minor for two pianos and orchestra by F. Poulenc.   

They placed first in the CajaCanarias Chamber Music Competition and have also won awards at another piano duo and piano solo competitions, including the International Piano Competition "Ciutat de Carlet", the Premi de Música "Ciutat de Manresa" and somes competitions in Gran Canaria.