Duo Diez

Introduction:

Duo Diez is an exciting new musical collaboration between guitarist Dimitris Dekavallas and violinist Violeta Barrena. Since meeting at the Royal Academy of Music as students, they have both developed interesting and varied international solo careers. A shared interest in playing and promoting Spanish and Latin American classical music signaled the start of Duo Diez in 2012.

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About Duo Diez...

Duo Diez is an exciting new musical collaboration between guitarist Dimitris Dekavallas and violinist Violeta Barrena. Since meeting at the Royal Academy of Music as students, they have both developed interesting and varied international solo careers. A shared interest in playing and promoting Spanish and Latin American classical music signaled the start of Duo Diez in 2012.

Dimitris Dekavallas has established himself as one of the most talented guitarists of his age. Dimitris studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with a scholarship from the Academy and the IKY National Scholarship Foundation in Greece. The winner of more than 13 international prizes, and 5 music awards he is much in demand as a soloist worldwide; he has given recitals, played with orchestras, performed at festivals and given masterclasses in Germany, USA, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Spain, Portugal and Greece. In the UK, Dimitris has performed at the Southbank Centre, St Martin's in the Field the Sheldonian theatre and for the Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace. Dimitris is actively involved in education and outreach work, and has been a member of the Live Music Now scheme since 2007. He has recently finished recording his third CD for solo guitar; he has also recorded with his duo partner, oboist Marios Argiros, and for the popular guitar CD Simply Spanish Moods. Many composers have dedicated their works to Dimitris, including Nikita Koshkin and Julian Jacobson, whose new works he will premiere at his Wigmore Hall debut in June 2012. Dimitris is sponsored by D'Addario & Company.

Award winning violinist Violeta Barrena from Spanish/Swiss heritage is a most exciting young musician, having performed in many prestigious venues, including The Royal Albert Hall, St. John's Smith Square, Bolivar Hall, St. Martin in the Fields and the Royal Festival Hall as well as festivals and venues around the UK and abroad including Australia, Oman, Spain, Switzerland and Italy. Violeta made her concerto debut aged 14. Whilst studying with Chris Nicholls (Ruggiero Ricci's assistant) she was offered a place at the Royal Academy of Music where she won the "Winifred Small" Solo Violin Competition for Bach and Paganini and was invited to perform the Mozart Concerto in G Major in Switzerland. After graduating with First Class Honors, she went on to study for a Masters degree at the Royal College of Music under Professor Itzhak Rashkovsky. Violeta is a keen chamber player and is currently on trial with the Maxwell string quartet for the position of first violin. She is also being promoted by the scheme Live Music Now to do outreach work around the UK.

Her interests as a violinist extend beyond the realms of classical music. Most recently, she has performed at Pizza Express Jazz Club and Ronnie Scotts, with internationally renowned folk and jazz musicians Peppe Servillo, Renato D'Aiello and Antonio Forcione. She has also worked closely with bands and pop artists such as Robbie Williams, Pink, Plan B, Eliza Doolittle, Il Divo, and TV appearances include BBC "The National Lottery", "Children in Need" and ITV "This Morning", "Lorrain Kelly" and "The Jonathan Ross show". Violeta plays on a Sanctus Seraphin 1735 currently on loan from Derek J.Croome

Click on the video below to watch Duo Diez perform: