Blake Espy, Violin
Jorge Martínez, Viola
While at WMU, Mr. Martinez became a member of the Phi Kappa Lambda Music Honors Society. In addition to this, he was awarded, along with his colleagues of the La Catrina, one of the university’s most prestigious awards, namely, the All University Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Award. It was the first time in the history of the university that the Graduate College bestowed such recognition upon an ensemble of the School of Music.
Mr. Martinez was a faculty member of the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Mexico, as well as instructor of violin and viola at Crescendo Academy of Music in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
As an orchestral musician, he was assistant principal of both the Camerata de Coahuila and the Orquesta de Camara de Morelia. Most recently, Mr. Martinez received an offer to become principal viola of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria, one of the most prestigious orchestras in Mexico. Mr. Martinez has appeared as soloist with several orchestras in Mexico and in December 2004, he gave a recital and a masterclass in London.
Cesar Bourguet, Cello
Born in Mexico City, Daniel Vega-Albela started studying violin with Yuriko Kuronuma. At fifteen, he won silver medal in the first National Violin Competition in Mexico City. At sixteen, he traveled to New York City, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from the Mannes College of Music, under the guidance of Sally Thomas. He has played with many ensembles in the United States, such as the St. Cecilia Chamber Orchestra, the Amherst Collegium Musicum, the Opus 1 String Ensemble, the Asparagus Valley Chamber Ensemble, and the Western New York Chamber Players. He has toured Japan and Mexico, and has had many appearances with different orchestras throughout Mexico. He has also worked with several chamber and symphony orchestras in Mexico, such as the Orquesta de Cámara de Morelos, the Camerata de Torreón, the Camerata de Roberto Kolb and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería.
From 1994 to 1997, he was instructor of violin at the Academia Yuriko Kuronuma in Mexico City, and in 1997, he joined the Conservatorio de las Rosas to teach violin performance and to play with their new music ensemble, the Ensamble de las Rosas. While with the Ensamble de las Rosas, he performed at the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato, Mexico, and played concertmaster for the recording of Luis Jaime Cortez’s opera Las Tentaciones de San Antonio. From 2001 to 2003, he was violin Instructor at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. His devotion to teaching has already yielded some important results: he is featured in the 2004 and 2005 edition of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
Mr. Vega-Albela holds a Master of violin performance degree from Western Michigan Unicersity, and a Master of chamber music degree from Kent State University, where he studied with Renata Artman Knific and Ivan Chan, respectively.
Daniel Vega-Albela, Violin
A native of the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca, César Bourguet began his musical studies at the age of seven with his father, Arturo Martínez San Juan. At 15, he moved to Mexico City to continue his academic formation at the Ollin Yolitzli Cultural Center. He would later pursue further studies at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, Texas and the Florida International University in Miami, Florida.
This young performer has studied with such notable cellists as Gayane Mdoyan, David Nasidze, Vagram Saradjan, Vardges Stepanian and Javier Arias. He has also attended Master Classes given by Natalia Gutman, David Geringas, Nathaniel Rosen, Desmond Hoebig, Norman Fischer, Yehuda Hanani, William da Rosa and Álvaro Bitrán, among others.
Among the awards and distinctions which César Bourguet has won are the First Prize in the "Schlern International Music Competition" of 2005, held in Völs am Schlern/Fiè allo Sciliar (Italy), as well as the top honors for sonata interpretation in the "Khachaturian International Cello Competition" (also in 2005), in Yerevan, Armenia. He was also a laureate winner in the "Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion" competition in Houston, as part of the 2004 Texas Music Festival, and the Moores Concerto Competition, also in Houston.
Born in Savannah, Georgia, Blake Espy started violin at the age of six. He has been associate concertmaster of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and a frequent performer with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. He also spent one summer in Mexico City performing with Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería.
In 2007, Mr. Espy was invited to become a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL, a professional studies orchestra whose alumni have gone on to join the ranks of professional orchestras all over the US and the world. In this program he was given the opportunity to act as a rotating concertmaster, chamber musician, and educator to young musicians in the Miami area.
In his hometown of Savannah, Mr. Espy created a non profit organization called Project 440, whose mission is to establish a healthy and sustainable environment for classical music throughout the area by means of community engagement, unique performance venues, innovative programming, as well as traditional performance practices.
Mr. Espy holds a Bachelor of Music Performance Degree from Western Michigan University, a Master of Music Performance Degree from Louisiana State University and an Artist’s diploma at SUNY Purchase.
