César Avilés Violin Aguada, Puerto Rico
César Avilés is a violinist and composer born in Puerto Rico. He graduated from the Conservatory of Puerto Rico with degrees in music performance and composition. His professional debut as a composer occurred when he was invited to play his Caprice no.1 for violin solo on Fox News in a commercial about the Eastern Music Festival musicians.
In that season (2007) Aviles was the concertmaster of the orchestra and at the same time he brought together the Eastern Music Festival chamber orchestra to perform one of his most acclaimed pieces ("Viejos Tiempos", for string orchestra). The composition was also performed by the Bayamon Symphony Orchestra in their concert season in Puerto Rico.
In 2008, Cesar was the first place winner of the Puerto Rico Conservatory concerto competition which led to a performance as a soloist with the conservatory orchestra and the premier of his Violin Concerto "A Violinist's Dream," with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. As a violinist he has performed with the Puerto Rico Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras as a substitute member as well as in the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra.
He is a current member of the World Orchestra and YOA Orchestra of the Americas. Cesar has been in several workshops and festivals around the world and has taken masterclasses with today's most prolific figures in music.
Xiomara Mass Oboe Puerto Rico
Xiomara Mass is a native of Puerto Rico, where she was accepted into the ‘Conservatorio de Música’ at age fifteen. Here, she studied with David Bourns, former principal of the ‘Orquesta Sinfónica de Puetro Rico’ and Pedro Diaz, solo English horn of the Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Mass has also worked with such renowned oboists as Elaine Douvas, Liang Wang, Nathan Hughes, Eugene Izotov, and Humbert Lucarelli.
She has been invited to participate in many prestigious music festivals including FOSJA ’03 and ’04 in San Juan, the John Mack Oboe Camp ’05, Tercer Festival de Dobles Cañas ’06 in Panama, YOA Orchestra of the Americas ’08 and ’10, Domaine Forget ’08 the St. Barth’s Music Festival ’08 and ’09 and the YouTube Symphony Orchestra ’11.
She won first prize at the Tuesday Musical State Scholarship Competition in Akron, Ohio in 2010, as well as in the First Chamber Music Competition at the ‘Conservatorio de Música’ with her woodwind quintet. Ms. Mass is currently pursuing an artist diploma at Oberlin Conservatory where she also graduated with honors in 2010 obtaining her bachelor’s degree in oboe performance under the tutelage of renowned oboists and professors, Alex Klein and Robert Walters.
Ivonne Pérez Oboe Cidra, Puerto Rico
Born in the island of Puerto Rico, Ivonne Pérez started performing on the flute at age nine, moving to the oboe a few years later. Over the last four years, Ivonne has proven to be a skilled orchestra musician, performing under conductors such as Rossen Milanov, George Manahan, Julien Salemkour, Guillermo Figueroa and Maximiano Valdés.
She has had the opportunity to play with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra during the past three years. In 2010, Ivonne was one of the winners of the Concert Festival Competition in New York City. Since 2006, Ivonne has participated in summer festivals and master classes in Puerto Rico and North America: Festival de la Orquesta Juvenil de las Américas (FOSJA), Banff Centre for the Arts Summer Music Program, Patrick MacFarland English Horn Master Classes, and The Juilliard School ChamberFest.
Ivonne continued her oboe studies at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music with Dr. Frances Colón, winning second place in the Concerto Competition at that same institution. In 2009, she moved to New York to study at Stony Brook University with Pedro Díaz. Ivonne is currently at The Juilliard School of Music, where she also studies with Elaine Douvas, Nathan Hughes and Linda Strommen.