La Muse Oubliée II
The Forgotten Muse II
With the passage of time, from Ancient Greece to the present day, the meaning of the word “muse” has been distorted. In mythology, this word designated each of the nine deities who protected the sciences and liberal arts, and poets fervently believed in their divine power. Nowadays, the name “muse” is often used to refer to those women who, from the background, provide inspiration to great artists, mostly male. In this way, that outdated role of an inspiring and non-creative woman is reinforced. In the title of this project, “The forgotten muse II”, as was the case with the first album in the series, the aim is to rescue again the original notion of “muse” as a powerful goddess linked especially to music, that is, as a first-person generator of valuable works of art.
Pianist Antonio Oyarzabal continues to show us in this album that a multitude of female composers who deserve to be known and recognised still remain forgotten. On this occasion, he offers us a selection of pieces by 18 unique authors, most of them pianists, from different periods and geographical origins. In all cases, their professional development was hindered by their status as women and by the social pressure of the historical period in which they lived. Oyarzabal finds intense and authentic artistic stimulation in the process of researching their career paths and in the enthusiastic interpretation of their music.
Antonio Oyarzabal
Antonio Oyarzabal was born in Bilbao in 1989. He started studying piano with Sor Cecilia Keller and continued with Guadalupe López completing high school with honors and obtaining the highest grade in piano. Later, he entered in Musikene, in San Sebastian. At this school he obtained his bachelor degree under the pianists Marta Zabaleta and Miguel Borges, and trained in contemporary piano repertoire with Ricardo Descalzo. Antonio also completed a harpsichord Diploma degree wit Honors, training with Loreto F. Imaz. He assiduously received lessons from pianist Denis Pascal and the Armenian master Anahit Simonian, with whom he worked on piano improvisation.
Antonio is a Master Graduate as a piano soloist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he also coursed as part of the exclusive programme Artist Diploma, studying with Caroline Palmer. Antonio is a versatile pianist that combines performing as a soloist, as well as chamber music, orchestral piano and piano accompaniment.
As an orchestral pianist, Antonio has had a lot of experience. He works on orchestral repertoire with LSO Keyboard Principal John Alley. In 2018, he played with Basque Country Symphony Orchestra in a programme including Petrushka by Stravinsky. Antonio was Principal Keyboard of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester in 2014 and 2015. He has also been the pianist for ULSO in London, Guildhall School Symphony Orchestra, and the European Union Youth Orchestra 2014. Antonio was the Principal Keyboard of the YMSO (2012-2015). Antonio has worked with many conductors, such as Vasily Petrenko, Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Afkham, Jun Märkl, Peter Stark, John Wilson, Leo McFall, James Blair, Pierre Cao etc. With these different orchestras, Antonio has performed in venues such as Royal Albert Hall PROMS 2014, Casino Kursaal in Interlaken, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Fundaçao Gulbekian in Lisbon, Philarmonie Gasteig in Munich, Philarmonie Kasel, Grafenegg Auditorium, Barbican Hall in London, CERN in Geneva, and Musikverein in Vienna.
As a chamber pianist, Antonio is one of the founder members of Trisquel Arts Ensemble, with which he had been playing in different recitals since 2013, both in the UK and abroad. Together with Trisquel Arts, Antonio took part in a pedagogical project with the DECODA Ensemble from the USA. His experience also includes playing with different Spanish ensembles at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao, Fundación Botín in Santander, Kutxa Hall of San Sebastián, Quincena Musical Festival of San Sebastián 2010. He debuted in Barbican Hall with Klimt Quintet.
As a soloist, he has recently debuted with Bilbao Symphony Orchestra and conductor Juanjo Mena, performing Mozart Piano Concerto n. 20 in the prestigious Philharmonic Society of Bilbao. Other performances include Mozart Piano Concerto no23 with Aldwych Sinfonia, Ravel Concerto in G with YMSO, Shostakovich Concerto 2 with London Euphonia Orchestra, 9th Piano Concerto with JOL and Poulenc Concerto for two pianos and orchestra with Musikene Symphony Orchestra. Antonio has also performed Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue with the European Union Youth Orchestra in Grafenegg, Austria.
As a singer accompanist, Antonio frequently works with different singers. He often performs with mezzo Chlöe Schaaf, with whom he performed at the Leeds Lieder Festival, Song in the City Festival in London and in Academia Marshall, Barcelona, among other venues. With soprano Mirjam Mesak, Antonio performed at the Westminster Cathedral in London and they were finalists of the English Song
Competition at the GSMD. Antonio has been the accompanist of the Proms on the roof 2015. He also had the opportunity to accompany Emily Magee and Christiane Karg at the GMJO Spring Tour 2014.
Antonio offers solo recitals around London and abroad regularly. He has performed in many festivals and concert halls around Europe.
Antonio was awarded with the Guildhall School Trust from 2012/2014. He won the 2nd prize at the “Concours International d’Ile de France” competition in Paris, 2008, and the Finalist and Audience Prizes at Campillos International Competition, 2015. He complements his training with masterclasses with pianists such as Émile Naoumoff, Luis Fernando Pérez, Denis Pascal, Josep Colom, Vladimir Bronewetzky, Bernard d’Ascoli, Paul Roberts, Noriko Ogawa, and Guigla Katsarava among others.
Antonio has recorded three albums. All have received the Golden Melomano Award from Melomano Magazine and very positive reviews. The last one, La Muse Oubliée, was recorded with Ibs Classical record label and features piano works written by women. It has received a 5 star rating from BBC Magazine as well as highly positive reviews from The Observer and other magazines. It has also been featured on radios such as Classic FM, BBC Radio 3, National Radio of Israel, Radio Nacional (Spain) etc. It has recently been chosen as 1 of the best 5 piano albums of 2021 by Fanfare Magazine (US).
Because of his work in the field of women composers, Antonio has been named Ambassador of Donne.uk
