Dúo Villa-Lobos
Cecilia Palma, Violonchelo
Edwin Guevara, Guitarra
Since 2003 the Duo Villa-Lobos has been a stable and consolidated chamber music duo. They started working in the Conservatorio Superior de Musica del Liceu de Barcelona (Spain) under mentoring of Guillem Pérez-Quer. The Duo Villa-Lobos has performed concerts in Europe, the United States of America, and South America, and recitals in important halls such as Sala de Conciertos Luis Angel Arango, Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Teatro Colon de Bogota, Ateneo de Barcelona, Hill Auditorium, Centennial Hall, among others.
Edwin Guevara has created original works and arrangements from different styles for this chamber music ensemble. Also, since its creation, the Dúo Villa-Lobos has encouraged composers to write original pieces for this unconventional chamber format. Recognized composers such as Leo Brouwer (Cuba), Atanas Ourkouzounov (Bulgaria), Blas Emilio Atehortua (Colombia), Jorge Miguel González, Carles Guinovart, Gabriel Estarellas, Francesc Taverna Bech, Gloria Villanueva, Josep Galeote (Spain), Jaime Zenamon (Bolivia), Ricardo Pauleti, Arnaldo Freyre (Brazil), Jan Freidlin (Russia), Gerard Drozd (Poland), Leonardo Le San (Colombia), José Antonio Guerrero (USA - Mexico), Giorgio Tortora (Italy), Pedro Sarmiento (Colombia), among others have dedicated their musical works to the Duo Villa-Lobos.
The duo was awarded the contemporary music prize at the Festival de Interpretacion Musical Arjau of Barcelona. Also, they received the Octavio Marulanda Morales award granted by the Festival Ruitoqueño de Musica Colombiana.
In 2017, they were invited by the Michigan University to perform the opening concert at the festival "En Español: Sounds of the Hispanospheres" in the Walgreen Drama Center's Stamps Auditorium. They also performed the central concert of the festival in the mythical Hill auditorium of Ann Arbor, being accompanied by the University Philharmonia Orchestra of Michigan University, premiering the "Great Symphonic Concert La Madre Monte" for Cello, Guitar, and Symphonic Orchestra Op. 198. They also premiered this piece in Colombia, accompanied by the Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogotá. This musical work was written and dedicated to the Duo Villa-Lobos by the Bolivian-German composer Jaime Zenamon.
The Dúo Villa-Lobos released their first recording, "Music for cello and guitar," under the NAXOS's classical music label and opened the cello and guitar chamber music line with a repertoire of Eastern Europe and South America in that label. The CD contains pieces by composers such as Dusan Bogdanovic (Serbia), Jaime Zénamon (Bolivia), Sergio Assad (Brazil), Atanas Ourkouzounov (Bulgaria) and Edwin Guevara-Gutiérrez (Colombia). The recording was made at the Sala de Conciertos Luis Angel Arango del Banco de la Republica in Colombia. It is essential to say that it was the first recording production made in Colombia for this world-leading classical music record label. The CD was also on the NAXOS bestseller's list during its first month of release.
The Duo Villa-Lobos has had an excellent reception among the public and specialized critics with commentaries and reports in various digital and physical media such as The Classical Guitar Magazine, The Violin Channel, Musicalifeiten, Memoirs Classical Guitar Magazine, David's Review Corner, A Tempo Magazine, El Tiempo, El Espectator, Arcadia, among others.
Cecilia and Edwin currently are doctor candidates (DMA) at the University of Arizona in the USA. Also, they are preparing their new CDs as a duo, solo cello, and solo guitar. Cecilia Palma is a cellist at the Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogotá, a cello professor at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and Naxos’ artist. Edwin Guevara-Gutiérrez is a professor at the Universidad Sergio Arboleda, Naxos Artist, Knobloch Strings Artist, Guitarlift Artist, and Bergmann Editions Artist.