Adriana Alcaide (ES)

Born in Barcelona in 1973, she completes her violin studies in Barcelona with high qualifications. 

Seduced by the art of Historical Performance, in 1999 she gets a grant for four years from the Catalan government and goes on to study baroque violin in the Early Music Department at Koninlijk Conservatorium in the Hague, learning from Enrico Gatti and Pavlo Besnoziuk, and as well with Elizabeth Walfish, Ton Koopman, Christina Pluhar, Lucy van Dael, Ryo Terakado, Wilbert Hazelzet, Jaap ter Linden and Wieland Kuijken.

From 2000 to 2002 she is selected as a member in the European Union Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Roy Goodman, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, and Andrew Manze.

She has been part of Concerto Amsterdam, Berlin Baroque, Florilegium Musicum and Utrecht Baroque Consort. Currently she works with L’Arpeggiata, Ludovice Ensemble, Al Ayre Español and plays under directors such as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Christina Pluhar, Martin Gester, Eduardo López Banzo, Monica Huggett and Andrea Marcon. 

She has offered concerts in the main halls of Europe and the United States, such as: Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carneggie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall London, Les Champs Elysées France, L’ Auditori de Barcelona and in many more countries from USA, Europe, and Asia.

She has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Naïve, K617 and Brilliant Classics labels. In 2019 she releases her solo CD “Still Life” with baroque music for solo violin fused with her own improvisations with contemporary language, using her voice as well.

Founder of Symbiotic Ensemble and Follia Project, she combines music with scenic work, being a complete performer and dedicating her attention as well to family concerts and projects for children and families.

She has travelled several times to Hokkaido, learning about Japanese traditional Music and collaborates regularly with the Japanese forte-piano player, Megumi Tanno, offering concerts in Tokyo as well. 

Now she is musical director and performer of Händel and Friends from AUDITORI EDUCA, a pedagogical project in l’Auditori de Barcelona since 2018.

She is the leader of Bach Collegium Barcelona, an orchestra and a choir dedicated to the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, under the direction of Pau Jorquera.

www.adrianaalcaide.com

Video

• Follia Project with Carine Tinney

• Concert d’Adriana Alcaide des de Pujalt

• “La Llum del Barroc” Adriana Alcaide i Lluís Solé

• L’Auditori Händel and Friends

• I. Dixit Dominus, Dixit Dominus, G.F. Händel, Bach Collegium Barcelona & Salvat Ensemble

• Miratges

• Passaggio Rotto

• Hokkaido

• Passacaglia

• Transit

• Xavier Sabata and Vespres d’Arnadí- In VISIBILI “Cesseran le sue procelle”

Press

• On August 13, the Bach Collegium Barcelona Duo performed at Brežice Castle, composed of Adriana Alcaide, violin, and Carles Blanch, theorbo. They presented themselves with an interesting programme entitled Stylus Phantasticus and Intima: Two Colors of Beauty. And indeed, on the one hand, we could listen to an expressive, felt performance of works by Biber, Schmelzer and Muffat, who demonstrated the virtuosity and depth of the baroque violin in an emotionally open and sonically rich way. On the other hand, the performers resolutely and technically perfected the Second Concerto of Francois Couperin, which stood out more for its refined elegance than for its extroverted expression of feelings. Violinist Adriana Alcaide also allows herself more freedom when recreating early music, but this gives the listener an additional feeling that her contact with this musical material is alive, direct, and authentic. Prominent articulation, effective, gradual dynamic changes and beautiful transitions between individual phrases are only an expression of technical perfection and musicality, but through them the artist also very openly conveys her feelings and empathy in the music. (Radio Slovenija, Glasbeni utrip, Katarina Radaljac, 30.8.2024)

• Adriana Alcaide has already performed at the Seviqc Brežice festival and is undoubtedly an excellent performer. (Glasna, Festival Seviqc Brežice, Marina B. Žlender, 28.9.2023)

• With her great virtuosity on the violin, the artist managed to show attendees that common denominator that she seeks with Still Life, and that connects perfectly with the festival and the pilgrim spirit of the Camino de Santiago: “The path of life, a continuous search and find, a journey inward, a spiritual journey.” … Adriana Alcaide gave an educational concert for the spectators, at the same time demonstrating immeasurable talent in her interpretations and improvisations. (Diputación de Huesca, Caminar para encontrarse gracias al virtuosismo de Adriana Alcaide, 31.7.2021)

• During the uncertainty caused by the pandemic situation, the album Still Life by the renowned violinist and creator Adriana Alcaide is in our hands. We present her as a creator because her creative and artistic drive goes beyond interpretation. His is, in effect, an interpretation loaded with personality and originality, with tact, care and beauty. At the same time, her creative spirit leads her to investigate and experiment in the field of improvisation and, beyond the disc, to enter various artistic fields. … Still Life is Adriana Alcaide's last album, a sound trompe-l'oeil in which compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber and Nicola Matteis are mixed gracefully as in a kaleidoscope alongside very personal improvisations that, recovering this widespread practice during the Baroque period, give the record a renewed, contemporary and experimental character. An album that may well become a reference thanks to its balance and the choice of compositions, which displaces the noise of uncertainty and builds the space for an attentive, free, and pleasant listening. … Alcaide's interpretation and sound throughout the album, both in the pieces where his voice intervenes and in the pieces for solo violin, is clean, natural, and free. Personal interpretations, full of personality and a special care in dynamics and expression. At the equator of the disc, the Ancestors improvisation, for percussion and voice invites us to enter a meditation that could almost remind us of the lamentatio so typical of the 17th century but also a ritual invitation to penetrate the interior of the world of the performer, free of forms, sensual and loaded with presence. (La Revista Musical Catalana, La “Vida tranquil·la” d’Adriana Alcaide, Martí Sancliment, 2.8.2020

• A concert entitled “Baroque by Cembalo and Violin” was held in the newly opened Niseko Central Warehouses, Old Starch Factory on September 22nd. The Baroque violinist Ms. Adriana Alcaide, originally from Catalonia and who made her Japan debut at the concert, was accompanied by Hakodate resident Ms. Yoko Mori on the cembalo in the performance. The concert was held with the Cooperation of the Niseko Friends group. The event was MCed in two languages (Japanese and English) by Niseko Friends member Ms. Kasai and CIR Mr. Emanuel Neubauer. The aim of the concert was for everyone to enjoy a cultural exchange through Baroque music as well as promoting the town. A surprise to all was that the cembalo which was used in the performance was built by Niseko resident Michael Kries, a German-born Organ-Meister. In addition, the high ceiling of the Old Starch Factory gave wonderful acoustics and aided the performance greatly which was a lovely discovery for the newly renovated space. All in all, it was a wonderful evening which transported everyone through space and time to the wonderful world of Baroque music. (Niseko Town’s Monthly International Exchange, Coordinators for International Relations, November 2016)