Interview
When and where was your first concert with the MCO?
It was during the Mozartwoche in Salzburg in 2005 with Daniel Harding as a conductor, playing Brahms’ Variations on Theme by Haydn op. 56.
What’s the best thing about playing with the MCO?
Everyone involved in MCO is absolutely amazing and feels part of this Chamber Music Family.
What is your most memorable moment with the orchestra?
Many lovely moments but I remember especially the concert as soloist, playing Vivaldi's Concerto in C major RV 443 in the Festival of Cartagena, Colombia.
Can you tell us something about your instrument?
...the piccolo is the smallest member of the flute family serving as an extension to the flute range, sounding an octave higher than written.
Beethoven was the first major composer to use the piccolo in a symphony: the Fifth in 1809.
If you could play another instrument what would it be?
Difficult to answer but I would like to go to the opposite of the score. I would play double bass.
Biography
Born in Alzira (Valencia, Spain), Paco Varoch studied at the Conservatorio Joaquin Rodrigo. In 1992 he moved to Paris for further study with Philippe Pierlot and a year later he enrolled at The Royal Conservatoire The Hague, Netherlands, to study with Prof. András Adorjan and Marianne Henkel-Adorjan.
Paco playedin Orchestra Mozart and in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra from 2008 until 2016 at the invitation of Claudio Abbado.
Paco is an Associate Member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He also appears frequently with MusicAeterna. He also has been invited to appear as a guest by Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre de Paris, Les Dissonances and Camerata Bern.
Paco is the founder and artistic director of La RemembranÇa, his lively interpretation of Vivaldi's Concertos in dialogue with contemporary compositions often leading to unusual and surprising insights.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Antioquia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquesta Vigo430, Banda Municipal de Barcelona and he made his international solo debut with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at the Festival Internacional de Música de Cartagena, Colombia.
Very active in chamber music, Paco has collaborated with the soloists of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra playing Into the Little Hill (composed and conducted by George Benjamin), and the Ensemble Resonanz in Hamburg. He also performs regularly with the pianists Carles Marin and Jesus Gomez in promoting commissions for piccolo and piano, including pieces dedicated by the composers Miguel del Águila, Manuel Añon, Ximo Cano, Ernesto Aurignac, Victor Valles and Jesus Santandreu.
Paco’s teaching activity has seen him collaborate with Orchesterzentrum|NRW in Dortmund, JONC (National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia), NMFA (Nuevo Mundo Festival & Academy) and FJC (Filarmonica Joven de Colombia).