Rodrigo Riera

Rodrigo Riera (born September 19, 1923 in Carora , Lara ; † August 9, 1999 in Barquisimento , Lara) was a Venezuelan guitarist and composer.

Riera was a self-taught guitarist. He had already appeared on the radio when he came to Caracas in 1945 , where he studied with Raúl Borges . In 1952 he went to Spain and became a student of Regino Sáinz de la Maza at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música y Declamación in Madrid . In 1954 he attended Andrés Segovia's master class at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena .

Riera lived in Spain until 1962, from where he undertook concert tours through Europe and his home country Venezuela. He played works by Latin American composers such as Antonio Lauro , Heitor Villa-Lobos , Agustín Barrios Mangoré , Manuel Ponce , Vicente Emilio Sojo and Raúl Borges as well as his own compositions. Occasionally he also appeared in a duo with his friend Alirio Díaz .

In 1962 he came to New York, where he worked as a concert guitarist, composer and guitar teacher. Here some of his most famous works such as the Preludio Criollo , Merengue Venezolano , Elorac , Monotonia , Melancolia and Cancion Caroreña were created . He also arranged several of Vivaldi's instrumental concertos for guitar.

In 1969 he returned to Venezuela and in 1971 he settled in Barquisimento. He worked there as a composer and music teacher until his death. In 1995 he received the Colombian National Prize for Music. In Caracas, the Fundación Mavesa organizes the Concurso Internacional para Guitarra Clásica Rodrigo Riera every two years .

Works

• Choro (1960)
• Merengue Venezolano (1962)
• Serenata Ingenua (1963)
• Canción Caroreña (1964)
• Preludio Criollo (1963)
• Elorac , (1964)
• Triptico Venezolano- Melancolía, Monotonía, Nostalgia (1968)
• Golpe al Diablo de Carora (1969)
• Chorinho
• Homenaje a la Chicachagua
• Pajarillo con Revoltillo
• Suite Popular - Homage al Maestro Antonio Lauro (1990)