Edwin Guevara.
Guitarist, composer, arranger, and director. Edwin Guevara began his studies at age three with his father Roberto Guevara. He later attended the National Conservatory of Colombia in the class of Ramiro Isaza, Blas Atheortua and Gustavo Yepes for guitar, composition and direction. He has won 67 awards as through the course of his trajectory as a guitarist, including the Leo Brouwer, Celedonio Romero, Miguel Llobet, Arjau Contemporary Music, Musical Youth of Spain, Chicago Guitar Festival competitions.
As a soloist, he has performed with different orchestras in Europe, Asia and America. He graduated from the Higher Conservatory of Music of the Liceo de Barcelona (Spain), where he studied with Guillem Pérez-Qer.
Guevara is Savino Music, Knobloch Strings, Bergmann Editions, and Naxos artist. He is the guitarist for Dúo Villa-Lobos. Great composers have dedicated works to him, including Roland Dyens, Leo Brouwer, Jaime Zenamon, Jorge Miguel Gonzalez, and Gerard Drozd.
Currently residing in Tucson, AZ, Guevara will start his Doctor of Musical Arts studies at the University of Arizona, Bolton Guitar Studies with Professor Thomas Patterson in the fall. He is the guitar professor at the Sergio Arboleda University but is taking a sabbatical for the next year.
Guevara and his duo partner are preparing the recording of their next CD’s as Dúo Villa-Lobos with the Naxos label.
Carlos Zapién.
Carlos Zapién is a Tucson-based musician, singer, pianist, cultural manager and composer.
Carlos Zapién was born in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. He studied piano and organ at the Conservatorio de Las Rosas in Morelia, Michoacán. In 2004 he obtained a degree in music from the University of Oregon, where he studied piano with Victor Steinhardt and singing with Eric Mentzel. He later obtained a master's degree at the same university in 2006. He also obtained the degree of Soloist at the University of Music and Performing Arts of Stuttgart, Germany, under the tutelage of tenor Francisco Araiza and soprano Dunja Vejzović.
While at the University of Oregon, he was a member of the Oregon Opera Ensemble. In 2007 he debuted in Europe playing Count Belfiore in La finta giardiniera, with the Thuringia Philharmonic at the Ekhof Festival. He also sang Schubert's Mass in E flat major at the Gasteig (Philharmonie) in Munich with Munich's Bach Collegium. In Pisa, Italy, he also had the opportunity to play Alfred in Die Fledermaus with the Orchestra of the University of Jena.
In 2009, Carlos Zapién was named Artist in Residence at the Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, where he played various roles in Il Trovatore, Pinnochios Abenteuer, Le Nozze di Figaro and the vocally challenging character of Niko in Gegen die Wand, a production that won the Faust-Preis, a prize awarded by the German critics.
He has sung in his native Mexico, as well as in other countries such as Austria, Germany, Italy, Taiwan and the United States of America and has collaborated with outstanding conductors.
In collaboration with pianist and arranger Alexander Pashkov, Carlos Zapién recorded a bolero album entitled Siempre Mía. He recently proposed a new interpretation of the Gregorian chant in an album titled The Beauty of Gregorian Chant.
Misael Barraza Díaz.
Misael Barraza Díaz is one of the most outstanding Mexican guitarists of his generation. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Master Guitarra Alicante, a special program where he studied with world renowned musicians David Russell, Manuel Barrueco, Ignacio Rodes, Paul O'Dette, Hopkinson Smith, Fabio Zanon, Roberto Aussel and Shin-Ichi Fukuda. As of December 2014, Misael holds both a master’s degree from the Master Guitarra Alicante (Spain) and a second master's degree from the University of Arizona (U.S.A.) where he is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Musical Arts and continues to study with Thomas Patterson, David Russell, and Sérgio and Odair Assad.
Misael has been awarded first place at numerous international guitar competitions, such as the 12th Culiacán International Competition (2019 – MEX), the Wilson Center Guitar Competition (2018 – USA), and the first International Guitar Competition of Finland (2018 – FIN).
At the international competition in Finland, Misael was awarded a special prize that consisted of a CD recording with the European company Alba Records. In addition, at the first Klagenfurt International Competition in Austria (2018) Mr. Barraza received another special prize consisting of a CD recording contract in Los Angeles, to be produced and released by Latin Grammy Award winner guitarist and composer Yalil Guerra. Moreover, Misael recently received yet another recording contract prize at the International Competition in Culiacán (2019), thus receiving three separate CD recording contract prizes in a time span of less than a year.
As a performer, he has played in venues throughout the USA, Mexico, Canada, and Europe. Barraza has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards for his accomplishments in music during his stay at the University of Arizona.