ROMÁN ENRIQUE ÁLVAREZ MAYOR
oboist
Training, influences, and professional path in European orchestras
An oboist and composer from Asturias, he trained in Spain, Italy, France, and Switzerland, obtaining the Extraordinary End-of-Studies Prize at the Oviedo Conservatory and the Soloist Diploma at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana. He has been a student of some of the greatest masters of his instrument, such as Francesco Pomarico, Ingo Goritzky, Hans Elhorst, and Jean Louis Capezzali, winning second prizes in the prestigious international competitions “Giuseppe Ferlendis” and “AUDI Mozart.” He has been a member of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville, among others. He is currently principal oboe of the Classical Orchestra of the Liceo Theatre in Salamanca.
Solo performance, collaborative projects, and teaching activity
He has performed extensively as a soloist with ensembles such as the Haydn Orchestra of Trento and Bolzano and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana. He also explores the field of early music, collaborating in various formats with Antonio Carrilho, Iván Martín, and Alfonso Sebastián in groups such as La Paix du Parnasse, Orquesta Vigo 430, and Galdós Ensemble. He has also delved into composition, jazz, and modern music, sharing the stage with Ariel Brínguez, Javier Colina, Guillermo McGuill, and Andreas Prittwitz. He has also collaborated on various recording projects, such as the album “Raíces” by the flamenco jazz group La Bejazz. He is an oboe professor at the Professional Conservatory of Music in Salamanca.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Ideas and references coming together in personal projects
He has been expressing his ideas in various projects, which constitute a musical diary in which those ideas are realized through his personal lens. In each of these projects, in a different and independent way, seemingly disparate musical traditions converge, giving rise to something new. Among his most decisive influences, He would highlight the music of Manuel de Falla, J.S. Bach, Indian music, and early 20th-century French music. And, of course, jazz and improvised music. Artists as Joe Henderson, Walt Weiskopf, John Coltrane or Jerry Bergonzi have been a real turning point in the way he understands the whole music.
PERSPECTIVA
“Perspectiva” is conceived primarily for oboe and strings. This set of pieces represents a series of views of different places from the same vantage point.
Solo oboe
Román Álvarez
Oboe and string trio
Román Álvarez
RO & CO
This project is more purely jazz-oriented, featuring a quartet (oboe, piano, bass, and drums). In addition to original compositions, it includes standards by composers such as Tom Harrell and Cedar Walton.
Oboe jazz quartet
Tom Harrell
INVENTIO DÚO
He developed this project with pianist Diego Ena. We alternate original compositions with standards, as well as some classical pieces for oboe and piano.
Oboe & piano
Román Álvarez
Oboe & piano
Román Álvarez
Oboe & piano
Román Álvarez
FAT CATS
This is the most recent and most active project. This is also a Jazz Fusion Project in which every member collaborate in the creative process. His Romancero serves as an example.
Oboe jazz quartet
Román Álvarez
Syrocus Ensemble
This is the only project where classical music takes center stage.
Oboe, bassoon and clarinet
Darius Milhaud