Interview
When and where was your first concert with the MCO?
It was in March 2017 in Brussels. It was a very short project but very special for me as it was a dream come true to play with MCO.
If you could play another instrument what would it be?
Voice or cello.
The first piece of music you fell in love with:
Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms.
This was the first big piece I played with the City of Salamanca Youth Orchestra, which is the first ever orchestra I played with and the institution that gave me the encouragement and inspiration to become a musician. A very special moment for me indeed.
What would you do if you weren't a musician?
I would have liked to study biology and philosophy.
The most inspiring composer:
For me Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler... couldn't choose only one from these.
Biography
Born in Salamanca, Rodrigo began the double bass at the age of eight at the Antonio Machado School with Professor Javier Gil Ajero. He was the first international double bass student at the Yehudi Menuhin School and was offered a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music with Caroline Emery. Upon graduating with first class honours, he was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal presented by HRH Prince Charles. Rodrigo obtained his Masters degree from the Luzern Hochschule, studying with renowned professor Božo Paradžik.
Rodrigo has won numerous prizes in international competitions. First prizes include: ''Young Students Category'' competition in the international competition held in the double bass convention Berlin10 and the double bass competition in the Royal College of Music. Furthermore, in 2009, Rodrigo was the first double bassist to win the Royal College of Music Junior Department "Peter Morrison" concerto competition.
Other Prizes include 2nd prize in the under-18’s international competition held in the Bass convention in Paris in 2008, 2nd prize in the Spanish national competition ‘Juventudes Musicales de España’ in 2012, and 3rd prize at the Golden Bass international competition held in Lviv, Ukraine, in 2013.
Rodrigo has collaborated with London Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, MusicAeterna, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta de Castilla y León, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Orquesta Nacional de España.
Rodrigo is currently principal double bass of the Orquesta Nacional de España and has been a member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra since March 2018. Furthermore from the academic year 2020/21, he will be teaching in the Forum Musikae school in Spain.
