Edgardo Espinosa CODIFICACIONES

Onix Ensamble is a recognized and award-winning ensemble of young Mexicans dedicated to spreading the best of the newest trends in contemporary music. All of its members, with the experience and international trajectory of a virtuoso soloist, work together as part of a sound collective that has been acclaimed by the specialized critic as unique in Latin America, exceptional… hypnotic… great expressive and musical intensity.. 

Edgardo Espinosa was born in Mexico City in 1963. He studied music at the National Music School of the UNAM with Victor Manuel Cortés, graduating with honors in 1991. As a recipient of scholarships from UNAM and FONCA, he pursued postgraduate studies in London at the London College of Music, with the teacher Richard Markson, and later in Thames Valley University, where he concluded his master’s degree in the year of 1995.

He has taken training courses with Ivan Monighetti, Alan Smith, Wolfgang Laufer, Maud Martin Tortelier and Joan Dickson, among others. He was the winner of the First and second places in the Open Competition for Soloists of the ENM Symphony Orchestra, third place in the First National Cello Competition and the 1992 London College of Music's annual string competition.

The courses and festivals in which he has participated include: the International Festival of Edinburgh, the Course of the Campus Internazionale di Musica of Sermoneta, Italy, the International Festival Cervantino, the Festival of Mexico City and the International Forum of New Music “Manuel Enríquez”.

Carmen Thierry OBOEMIA Música Mexicana Para Oboe Solo

In the early 1980s Pauta magazine (Journal of Theory and Musical Criticism) appeared in Mexico, thanks to the interest and initiative of composer Mario Lavista. Pauta provided, for the first time in Spanish, access to information on contemporary techniques of instrumental performance. As a result of the work of a group of young Mexican musicians who decided to specialize in contemporary music, articles devoted to the oboe, the flute, the clarinet, the double bass, the guitar, the harp and strings were published in Pauta during the early years.

In 1982, along with Pauta magazine, the Da Capo Quartet was founded. With Maria Elena Arizpe on the flute, Leonora Saavedra on the oboe, Lilia Vazquez at the piano and Aaron Bitran on the cello, they recorded Between 1982 and 1984 three albums of music by Mario Lavista, Manuel Enriquez, Federico Ibarra, Daniel Catan, Joaquín Gutiérrez Heras, Rodolfo Halffter, Stephen Montague, Lilia Vazquez and George Crumb. Throughout personnel changes in the quartet, Roberto Kolb continued Leonora's work with the oboe, even after the Quartet ceased performing.

In early 1989, Guillermo Portillo created at UNAM's National School of Music the "Camerata" group, inviting Carmen Thierry to participate, since then, Carmen has premiered in Mexico and worldwide numerous works, many of them especially composed for her and for the group. For decades she was practically the only oboist performing contemporary music in Mexico. In the 2000s talented young musicians appeared continuing the work of Leonora, Roberto and Carmen.

This album is a compilation of music written for solo oboe from 1957 to 2008. The program includes works composed in a traditional language by Antonio Navarro, Carlos Chavez and Maria Granillo, compositions using contemporary techniques by Gonzalo Macias, Mario Lavista, Manuel Enriquez, Horacio Uribe and Manuel de Elías, and works utilizing new techniques and electronic sounds by Luis H. Arevalo, Manuel Rocha and Jorge Calleja.

This is an invitation to a fifty years' journey through the beautiful and extraordinary sounds of a fascinating musical instrument, the oboe.