July, 2017 Edicson Ruiz DOUBLE BASSIST AND TEACHER

“A virtuouso double bass player who brings to light the hidden qualities of the instrument and breaks all preconceived ideas and prejudices (...) the doors of the music zenith are open for Ruiz¨ Der Bund, Switzerland

Edicson Ruiz, one of the greatest solo double bass players, is the first Latin American musician to join the Berlin Philharmonic, and the youngest musician in its history to join, at the age of 17, the ranks of that mythical orchestra. In the crusade to claim the double bass in the most important stages of the world, he changed the strings of his instrument, in 2005, to explore the Viennese tuning, which has led him to recover the repertoire written at the end of the 18th century.

Many contemporary composers have dedicated works to Edicson Ruiz, among others, maestros of the standing of Heinz Holliger, Matthias Ockert, Luis Antunes Pena, Dai Fujikura, or Rudolf Kelterborn.

Some of these works are the cadences written by Anner Byslma and Roland Moser, for the No. 15 Concert of Johannes Matthias Sperger; as well as full works like Capriccio, by Luciano Maria Serra; Soledad, D-K Son, Escenas del Sur para Viola y Contrabajo, Boves and Bolívar for bass, double bass and piano, by Efraín Oscher; Paul Desenne's Concerto for Double Bass; Paolo Marzocchini's duet for viola and contrabass "Luna di Giorno" and Arturo Pantaleón's Concerto for double bass, among many other works for orchestra, soloist and chamber music.

Formed in the famous Venezuelan social and musical program known as El Sistema, Ruiz began his double bass classes at the age of 11 with maestro Felix Petit, who has trained several generations of bassist in Latin America. As a student of the Herbert von Karajan Academy, his teacher was Klaus Stoll, first soloist of the Berlin Philharmonic, who prepared him to become, through a competition, a stable member of the Philharmonic. Stoll said about him: "his interpretation has an inexplicable maturity; leaves you with goose bumps and makes you think: how is it possible? Where does that come from? ".

Edicson debuted as a soloist with only 16 years. He has performed in Latin America, with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, the Guatemala National Symphony Orchestra, the Bolivian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Paraguayan Youth Orchestra, the NEOJIBA Orchestra of Brazil, the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, and the Youth Orchestra of the Dominican Republic.

As a soloist, he has also shared stage with other orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Gothenburg Symphony, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Longy Conservatory Orchestra, The Royal Tuscany Orchestra, the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Caracas Symphony Orchestra, among many others.

His repertoire includes: Divertimento Concertante for Double Bass and Orchestra, by Nino Rota; Concerto No. 1 for Double Bass and Orchestra, by Rolf Martinsson; Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra in Mib major, by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf; Concertino for Double Bass and Strings in C minor, by Giovanni Bottesini, Joropo Siciliano for Violin and Double Bass, by Luciano Maria Serra; Duo for Viola and Double Bass, by Johannes Matthias Sperger; Duo Concertante for Cello and Double Bass, by Giovanni Bottesini; Sonata in Si minor for Double Bass and Violoncello, by Johannes Matthias Sperger; Sonata for Double Bass solo op. 36, by Alexander Jemnitz; Prelude and fugue to 4 voices for double bass only with Viennese tuning, by Heinz Holliger; Concerto for double bass, by Aldemaro Romero; Unknown Concerto for Contrabass and Piano, by Franz Anton Hoffmeister; Figment III for solo double bass, by Elliott Carter, among others.

Edicson Ruiz, is working toward a Bachelor's degree in Music at the Hanns Eisler School in Berlin. He is interested in sharing his knowledge about double bass in all the places he visits, giving master classes, workshops and seminars in places like the Manhattan School of Music, the Conservatory of Superior Music in Napoli, the Longy Bard College in Boston, the University of California, the Colburn School in Los Angeles, the Central American Double Bass Festival in Guatemala, the New England Conservatory, the Conservatorio Cantelli in Novara, the Boston String Academy, the Hong Kong Conservatory, the Boston University, the Royal College of Music of Stockholm, the University of Tokyo, the Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Batuta Foundation in Colombia, the Mangorium Foundation and at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, among other institutions.

Ruiz has performed at the prestigious festivals of Salzburg, Lucerne, Verbier, Edinburgh, Medellin, Hitzacker, Alicante, Marvao, Schloss Brunegg, Sull'Acqua, among others. He has made four albums with the PhilHarmonie label. The respected classical music magazine The Strad said about the production that Ruiz recorded in 2011 with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra: "Ruiz plays with an unshakable aplomb, showing a cheerful and consistent tonal imagination."

The chamber music finds in Edicson Ruiz one of its most brilliant musicians. He has performed with great artists such as Yuri Bashmet, Tomato Takahashi, Gidon Kremer, Swiss Chamber Soloists, Simón Bolívar Quartet, Chirstian Tetzlaff, Gustavo Dudamel, Lars Vogt, Christian Zacharias, Daniel Hope, Sabine Meyer, Sharon Kam, Alban Gerhardt, Daniel Müller-Schott, György Kurtag, Heinz Holliger, Elliot Carter, M. Bourge, Klaus Thunemann, Thomas Zehetmair, Jörg Widmann, Anner Bylsma, Danusha Waskiewicz.

In the last semester of 2017, Edicson Ruiz will travel to Ecuador to participate in the Filarfest; and to the United States to perform with Kent Nagano. Ruiz recently performed at Wigmore Hall, the UK's first house of chamber music and recitals, where for the first time a double bass player was a part of the late night concert series, accompanied by the pianist Yu Kosege.

Also, he will debut in Canada as part of the summer festival of Montreal Symphonic Orchestra. In September, Ruiz will be part of the world debut of the Roland Moser Quartet, in Switzerland. In October, he will be in Italy with the Cremona Quartet; and will participate in the Festival El Sistema to be held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater. In November, he will be in Cologne for the first time as soloist, with the Kölner Philharmonie, and later that month, he will share the stage with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in China; and finally, in December, he will perform with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, in Japan.

In 2003, Edicson Ruiz was selected as one of the 10 outstanding youngsters of Venezuela by the Junior Chamber International; he has received the Golden Bow in Switzerland; and he has been named Illustrious Visitor of Paraguay, along with being decorated with the José Félix Rivas Order in Venezuela.

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