Joaquín Clerch (b. 1965, Havana) was bestowed the Orden por la cultura nacional – one of the Cuban government’s highest artistic award.

He graduated from the Art University of Havana in 1989.

In 1990, he continued his studies at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, where he studied guitar with Eliot Fisk and Early Music with Anthony Spiri and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

He graduated with distinction in 1991 and was awarded the prize for extraordinary artistic achievement by the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research.

Joaquín Clerch has won many important guitar competitions, such as the Andres Segovia Competition in Granada, the Heitor Villa-Lobos Competition in Rio de Janeiro, Printemps de la Guitare in Brussels and the ARD competition in Munich.

He has played in prestigious concert halls the world over, e.g. Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Palacio de la Música (Barcelona), Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie (Brussels), Alte Oper (Frankfurt), Teatro Nacional (Havana), Kölner Philharmonie (Cologne), Auditorio Nacional de Música (Madrid), Münchener Philharmonie (Munich), Radio France (Paris), Beijing Concert Hall (Beijing) and Konzerthaus (Vienna).

He has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de España, the Orquesta Nacional de Cuba, the Filarmónica de Bogotá, the Stuttgarter Philharmonie, the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse under Michel Plasson, and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria under Adrian Leaper.

With the latter he made the world premiere recording of two guitar concertos dedicated to him by Leo Brouwer (Concierto de la Habana, 1998) and Carlos Fariñas (Concierto, 1996).

Joaquín Clerch regularly performs in a variety of different combinations.

Other musicians he has appeared with include Ruggiero Ricci, Eliot Fisk and others.

Since 1999, Joaquín Clerch has held a professorship of guitar at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf.


 

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