Oscar Abella - Tuba and early brass instruments
cabecera_biography
Oscar Abella Holton Tuba John Fletcher

Oscar Abella holds the Principal Tuba position with the "Basque National Orchestra" ("Euskadiko Orkestra") since 2007. Since 2014 he developes and plays the Tuba in "Euskadi Brass", since 2018 he teaches at the "Cuivres en Pays Basque" Academy in St. Jean de Luz (France) and since 2023 he is Principal Ghest Professor of the "Superior Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Islands" (Mallorca). He is charter member of the "Spanish Tuba and Euphonium Association" (AETYB) and the "Spanish Tuba Quartet". He combines a prolific performing and teaching activity with musical composition and the study and performance of historical low brass wind instruments.


His musical training starts at the Conservatories of Segovia (Spain) and Perpignan (France). Between 2001 and 2006 he moves to Lyon to study at the "Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse" (CNSMD) with the Masters Mel Culbertson and Arnaud Boukhitine, obtaining the "Diplôme National d'Études Supérieures" with Honours. He has also attended workshops and master classes with professors Mel Culbertson, Harvey Philips, Michel Godard, Roger Bobo, Jens Bjørn-Larsen, Rex Martin, Steven Mead, Øystein Baadsvik, Robert Tucci, Dan Perantoni, Warren Deck, Vicente López, Miguel Moreno, Miguel Navarro, and others.


He has held the Tuba position in the "Opera of Saint-Etienne", the "Mediterranean Youth Orchestra" and the "Netherlands Youth Orchestra". In addition, he has collaborated with the "Bordeaux-Aquitaine National Orchestra", the "Lyon Opera", the "Bilbao Symphony Orchestra", the "Orchestre National du Capitôle de Toulouse", the "Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana" (Les Arts) and the "Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra" with Valery Gergiev, etc.


He has given master classes and wokshops at the "Cantabrian Youth Symphony Orchestra", the "Basque Youth Orchestra" (EGO) the "Euskadiko Ikasleen Orkestra" (EIO), the "Spanish Brass" Tuba Studio, the SBALZ Festival, the “Tuba Jaialdia” Festival, the "Tubaland" Festival (France), the "Jumilla Low Brass" Festival, the “M. C. mi Festival Brass & Percussion” in Pereira (Colombia), the "Hércules Brass Celanova" Festival, the "Cuivres en Pays Basque" Festival, the Professional Conservatories of Almoradí and Alicante and the Superior Conservatories of Alicante, Murcia, Mallorca and Barcelona (ESMUC and Liceu), among others.


In July 2001 he was laureated with the First Prize of the "Young Artist Tuba Competition" in Lahti (Finland), awarded by the "International Tuba and Euphonium Association" (ITEA). His solo performances include: the "Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto" with the "Basque National Orchestra" conducted by Christian Lindberg in March 2010; the world premiere of Bernard Cavanna´s "Quelques Annonces" for tuba and choir at the Radio France Studios (Paris) with the "Musicatreize Ensemble"; recitals at the "Contemporary Music Festival of Segovia", the "National Theater of Bordeaux", the "Auditorium Martín Codax" in Vigo, the "Matinees de Miramón" in San Sebastián, the "International Tuba and Euphonium Conference" in the "Brucknerhaus Linz" (Austria), the Soreasu Auditorium (Azpeitia), the "AETYB Festivals" in Barcelona (2014), Valencia (2016), Madrid (2018) and Málaga (2022), etc.


Oscar Abella has self-taught specialized in the interpretation of historical low brass instruments, a passion which has led him to become the first Spanish orchestral tuba player to perform pieces of the symphonic repertoire with the Serpent and the Ophicleide and to introduce them in his solo performances. In 2015 he collaborates in the recording of "The Virtuoso Ophicleide", published by the Ricercar label. He owns and makes use of an extensive collection of instruments from the 19th and 20th centuries, including a Forveille Serpent, a Jeantet Basshorn with a dragon-shaped bell (ca.1817-24), various C and Bb Ophicleides from the makers A. Lecomte, Gautrot, Gautrot-Marquet, Courtois Frère and J. Thibouville-Lamy, and period Tubas and Euphoniums made in Europe and America. Regarding the modern instruments, he is Tuba Artist of the Buffet Group's B&S and Melton-Meinl Weston brands and he plays a traditionally manufactured WetterBerger Serpent.


As a composer, he specialized himself in film music scoring in the CNSMD of Lyon (France), working on a wide variety of styles, from symphonic to electronic. He also composes chamber music commissioned by different ensembles, highlighting "Forgotten Dream" for Tuba and Magnetic Band, "Mu-danzas" for brass quintet, the orchestral suite "Chloris and Zephyr", "H. C. Andersen's Shadow" for string quartet, "Cappriccio" for solo Euphonium, "In the Williams Modd" and "Variations on a Theme by G. Verdi" for Tuba quartet, etc.


For further information, please visit www.oscarabella.com oscarabellalogo
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