Hector Vasquez - English

Hector Vasquez

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Hector Vasquez, cellist, began his musical training at the National Conservatory of his native city with the Belgian maestro Leon Roy. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts (majoring in Violoncelle performance) at the National Conservatory in Puerto Rico with Adolfo Odnopossof and the internationally renowned Catalonian cellist Pablo Casals. He then studied with Claus Kanngiesser at Germany’s Musikhochschule of the Saarland in Saarbrucken, and later also with maestro Sir William Pleeth in London, England, and with the Brazilian maestro Aldo Parisot at Yale University. While in England, Hector played period instruments with “The Early Cello Consort,” touring the United Kingdom and Europe.

Hector has been principal cellist of the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra, Soloist of Venezuela, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, and the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra. In Florida, where he lived in 2000-2003, he was principal cellist at the Florida Grand Opera, Miami Symphony Orchestra, Florida Chamber Orchestra, Palm Beach Opera, Palm Beach Pops, and Boca Pops. In Canada since 2004, Hector has played with the Waterloo Chamber Players, the Waterloo Community Orchestra, and he has been principal cellist of the Guelph Symphony Orchestra.

He has performed as soloist with the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra, Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra, Soloist of Venezuela, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata de Solistas, Florida Chamber Orchestra, Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, and the Antioquia Symphony Orchestra, Medellin, Colombia.

Hector is also active as a recitalist. His many recitals have included the Conrad Grebel Noon Recitals; K-W Chamber Music Society; various series in Colombia, including those in Bogotá, Cali, and Medellin; the Teatro Teresa in Carreno, Venezuela; and the Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.

Hector Vasquez will perform the Haydn Cello Concerto in D Major with the Waterloo Chamber Players in April 2008. And he will perform Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra in March 2008.