Miguel Pérez-Espejo Cárdenas, D.M.A., “a violinist of exceptional ability and a human being of impeccable character, with an outstanding ability to interpret from the heart” (Aaron Rosand), “…a very strong leader… a fine soloist, with a beautiful tone, impeccable intonation and rhythm… a fine musicianship and artistic sensibility” (Stanislaw Skrowaczewski), is considered as one of the most talented Spanish violinists of his generation, whose performances have been highly praised by critics from The Boston Globe to The Daily Telegraph (U. K.), the chief music critic of which, Mr. Geoffrey Norris, wrote about him: “It was extremely impressive, and I was struck particularly by the Bach Chaconne, which seemed to me to have exceptional maturity and expressive depth”.
A top-prize winner at The Olga Koussevitzky Competition in New York City, he also won the Chautauqua Institution Competition and was a Prize-winner at the Murcia International Violin Competition. He was a Fulbright Scholar from 2000 to 2002, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, and has received numerous awards and distinctions, among which stand those of the Theodore Presser Foundation, the SÉNECA Foundation from Spain and the New England Conservatory’s George W. Chadwick Gold Medal. Since November 2006 he is a Member of the prestigiousReal Academia de Bellas Artes Santa María de la Arrixaca (Royal Academy of Fine Arts Santa María de la Arrixaca), of Murcia, Spain, and he has been awarded thePaul Harris Fellow Prize from the Rotary Club Cartagena, the highest distinction of the Rotary Club worldwide. He was invited to join Pi Kappa Lambda, the Honor Music Society of the United States, of which he is a member since May 2009.
As soloist, Dr Pérez-Espejo has concertized widely in Spain, Europe, and the United States, in venues that include the Auditorio Nacional (National Auditorium) and Teatro Monumental in Madrid, the Palau de la Música of Valencia, Baluarte y Centro de Congresos of Pamplona, the Chautauqua Institution Auditorium, as well as the concert halls of Zaragoza and Murcia. He has performed with orchestras such as the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra (RTVE), Orquesta de Valencia, the Gardner Chamber Orchestra or the Murcia Symphony, and has collaborated with conductors Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Sergiu Commisiona, Adrian Leaper, Douglas Boyd, Gunther Schuller, Carlo Ponti and José Miguel Rodilla, among others. Recent and upcoming performances include world premières of works written for him by two of Spain’s foremost composers: Miguel Franco’s Sinfonía Concertante, Op. 87, and José Zárate’s Violinesca, both for violin and orchestra, as well as the American première of Zárate’s Canto para violín solo.
Sponsored by institutions such as Banco de Santander, The Rotary Club, Spanish General Consulate, Instituto Cervantes, SÉNECA Foundation, Cajamurcia or Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo C.A.M., Pérez-Espejo has offered numerous recitals in cities like Chicago, New York, London, Valencia or Boston, and at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. He has performed in live radio broadcasts for the Spanish National Radio (Radio Nacional de España), Spanish national Television (TVE), and Canal Clásico. Pérez-Espejo co-directed with Antonio Muñoz Molina and performed in the concert series Spain in Chamber Music at the Cervantes Institute in New York City. He has recorded for the RTVE MÚSICA label, among others, releasing the first Spanish recording of the Elgar Violin Concerto (live) as well as the recital CD “Música española para violín y piano”, devoted entirely to Spanish music. He was one of the four violinists invited by the Fundación March of Madrid to perform in the concert cycle Sarasate y otros virtuosos, commemorating the 100th. Anniversary of Sarasate’s death, and directed and performed in the recital cycle El violín hispano at Boston University’s Tsai Performance Center, sponsored by Banco de Santander, Instituto Cervantes and the Department of Romance Languages at Boston University. He has been featured in the newspaper El Mundo and in the music magazine Melómano.
As chamber musician, Pérez-Espejo has performed with international artists Roberto Díaz, Colin Carr, James Dunham, Laurence Lesser, Paula Robison and Chee-Yun, among others, and in venues such as Jordan Hall, Harvard, Northeastern and Boston Universities and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. He has been guest artist in many international festivals in the United States, Canada and Europe, and together with Taiwanese violinist Hsin-Lin Tsai, he was member of the quartet praised as “the outstanding string quartet” by Richard Dyer, chief music critic of The Boston Globe. He performs in Murcia in theConcierto Extraordinario de Navidad with the Saravasti String Quartet, and concertizes extensively with Hsin-Lin Tsai as the acclaimed L'Étoile violin duo, which has been praised as “extraordinary” by critics and audiences.
Heir to a unique musical background, his teachers include Aaron Rosand, Michèle Auclair, Yuri Mazurkevich, Eric Rosenblith, and Joaquín Palomares, and received special private instruction from the late and distinguished violinist Pina Carmirelli, founder of I Musici. He received his doctoral degree in violin performance from Boston University in May 2009, an wrote his dissertation Pablo Sarasate: the Violinist, the first violinistic study on the Spanish artist. Dr. Pérez-Espejo holds degrees with the highest Honors and Distinctions from the Murcia Superior Conservatory (“Profesor Superior de Violín”, 1997), the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston (B.M. 2000; M.M. 2002), and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London (Artist Diploma, 2003). A passionate pedagogue, Dr. Pérez-Espejo has been invited as faculty to teach master classes in festivals in the U.S. and Spain, and his students have won top prizes in competitions and auditions. In the summer he teaches and serves as Coordinator of Strings at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He is currently on the Faculty at Bridgewater State University, where he is a member of the faculty Piano Trio, and performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Pérez-Espejo proudly endorses and collaborates with the Elfenworks Foundation in their philanthropical efforts through music. He resides both in Spain and the United States with his wife, violinist Hsin-Lin Tsai.
Miguel is a performing artist on the "Spring Serenade" CD in Chant de Linos by Andre Jolivet which will be released in 2013/2014.
