“Juan Carlos is destined to become one of the greatest pianist of our time”
John Gailworth. Music Courier, New York
Juan Carlos Escudero, 1984
Born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Juan Carlos Escudero is considered one of Latin America's leading pianists.
He began his piano training as a founding student of the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory of Music with Master Aliona Dziouba (Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory). In 1999 he entered Master's Reinaldo Cañizares (Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory) Piano and Chamber Music class, achieving the Degree of Excellence in his graduation concert and getting his bachelor's in Music and Piano Performance. In 2010 he was recognized as a distinguished member of the Ecuadorian Cultural Chamber. He is a Lawyer by the Catholic University of Guayaquil with a master's in Arts Pedagogy from the University of Baja California. In 2017 the IMELE University of Mexico granted him the title of “Doctor Honoris Causa” and in 2019 he became the first Ecuadorian musician to be awarded the "Global Leaders Program" prestigious scholarship.
From 2007 to 2016 he was the permanent piano soloist of Guayaquil's Symphony Orchestra, serving also as its Legal Counselor during that period. In 2012 he was appointed Ecuador's National Director of Musical Arts at the Ecuadorian Ministry of Culture and Heritage to later become an Advisor to the Minister.
He has played as soloist with all Ecuadorian professional orchestras (Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Loja and Guayaquil's Philharmonic) and has given concerts and recitals in all five continents, playing piano concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, Grieg, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich to name a few, masterfully dominating the top repertoire pieces of piano literature, earning outstanding critic of the international media.
He has performed in Chile, Mexico (Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca), the United States (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington DC, Delaware, Virginia, California) performing solo recitals and also as guest soloist with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra (2009) and the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia (2014); Canada (Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto), Peru (Lima, Arequipa), Cuba (National Symphony Orchestra soloist 2012), Venezuela (Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra soloist 2013), China, Qatar, Malaysia, Australia, Argentina (General San Martin Symphony Orchestra soloist 2016), Italy (Rome, Vatican City). He has taught master classes in Venezuela (Zulia University), Malaysia (Malaysian Youth Orchestra Foundation), Ecuador (Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory of Music and Salvador Bustamante Celi Conservatory), among others.
He is Associate Professor of the master program in Piano Interpretation at Espíritu Santo University of Guayaquil, Principal Advisor to the León Febres-Cordero Theater for the Performing Arts, and currently holds the position of Managing Director of Guayaquil's Philharmonic Orchestra, where he proudly performs regularly as its permanent soloist.
In 2019 he inaugurated his own private conservatory, Sonata Music Academy, which has become a leading music school in Ecuador.
Awards
& Recognitions
- I Prize, National Music Competition, child category (Ecuador, 1995)
- I Prize, National Music Competition, young category (Ecuador, 2002)
- III Prize and Unique award of the FROMA International Piano Competition (Ecuador, 2009)
- International Award of the Association of Entertainment Critics of New York for his debut in New York, USA (2010)
- Arte 2010 International Award, being declared soloist of the year in the United States.
- Latin ACE Award given by the Association of Entertainment Critics of New York for his debut recital at Carnegie Hall (2017)
- Official recognition from the United States Senate for his artistic support to the Latin community in the US.
- Recognition given by the state of California and the Mayor’s office of the city of Los Angeles, for his concert at the Celebrity Centre in Hollywood.
- Different distinctions from cities like Oaxaca, Mexico (distinguished visitor); the Honorable City Hall of Puebla, Mexico; Union City, Los Angeles and New York in the United States.
- In 2012 he was invited by the Organizing Committee of the XXVI Claudio Arrau International Piano Competition in Chile to be part of the international jury, being one of the youngest jurors in the history of such events at age 28.
- Since 2014 he has been permanent jury of the Piano International Contest of the Malaysian Youth Orchestra Foundation in Kuala Lumpur.
“Escudero, with the skill of his hands, created incredible sounds that enchanted the public”
Qatar Tribune, Doha - Qatar
“Juan Carlos Escudero impresses
with his refined lucidity in each performance”
Diario El Universo, Guayaquil - Ecuador
“Juan Carlos' interpretation separates him from the common denominator of concert musicians to place him in a select group of chosen ones”
Nilda Tapia, Association of Latin Entertainment Critics of New York
Orchestra Repertoire 2020
Bach, Johann Sebastian
Keyboard concerto in F minor BWV 1056
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Piano concerto 23 in A major K. 488
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Piano concerto 2 op. 19 in B flat major
Piano concerto 3 op. 37 in C minor
Triple concerto op. 56
Choral Fantasy for piano, orchestra and choir in C minor op. 80
Brahms, Johannes
Piano concerto 1 in D minor op. 15
Saint Saens, Camille
Piano concerto 2 op. 22 in G minor
Grieg, Edvard
Piano concerto op. 16 in A minor
Rachmaninov, Sergei
Piano concerto 4 op. 40 in G minor
Prokofiev, Sergei
Piano concerto 1 op. 10 in D flat major
Shostakovich, Dmitri
Piano concerto 1 op. 35 in C minor
Gershwin, George
Rhapsody in Blue
Anderson, Leroy
Piano concerto in C
- Click on the image to watch Juan Carlos play Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" -
“I have followed Juan Carlos' career since its beginnings during his piano training with Maestro Reinaldo Cañizares. When he came to play the transcendental studies of Franz Liszt and Prokofiev's concerts, I knew that the brilliant student had become the master. I appreciated very much the Shostakovich concert in which only a quintet of strings an a trumpet accompanied him. Juan Carlos, having mastered the technical part and fingering, dedicated himself to the interpretation, with the full expressivenessthat only his great sensitivity dictates”
In the News
Maestro Juan Carlos Escudero opens his Conservatory: SONATA Music Academy
SONATA Music Academy, a brand new Conservatory opened in Samborondón under the direction of Maestro Juan Carlos Escudero. The innovative proposal aims to provide top-notch quality in music education with renown professors prepared in the most prestigious music schools in Ecuador and abroad.
The three core programs: Rockservatory, Classical & Jazz Studio and Kinder Music, have been carefully curated for students ages 3 months old to adults. "My goal is to offer a space where anyone interested in music has the opportunity to live a unique musical experience", Escudero said when interviewed by El Universo.
Make sure to follow SONATA on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and engage with the hashtag #SonataExperience !
Juan Carlos Escudero, piano and Jorge Saade, violin release their first music production together
Pasional
After four years of performing together on prestigious international stages, the artists return to Ecuador to present their first recording, "Pasional", which is dedicated to ecuadorian composers. The album include works for violin and piano by Claudio Aizaga, Gerardo Guevara, Corsino Duran, Enrique Espin Yepez, and more.
Find it on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/album/2sdEeknQZhLg3EyFKx5NJ0
2020 Tour dates
March 14: Rome Auditorium. Soloist of the Rome Symphony Orchestra. Gershwin, Rhapsody in blue
May 22: Teatro Centro de Arte, Guayaquil. Soloist of the Orquesta Filarmónica Municipal de Guayaquil. Beethoven Festival - Choral Fantasy
May 24: Recital. Lima, Perú
July 9: Casa de la Música, Quito. Soloist of the Ecuador National Symphony Orchestra. Beethoven Festival - Piano concerto no. 2 op.19 in B flat major.
September 28: "Piano ma non solo Festival", Guayaquil. Universidad de Las Artes. Recital.
October 26: Recital. Carnegie Hall, NYC, EU
