LUIS MIGUEL ROJAS

Rojas is a product of the "System of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela" (El Sistema). He began his musical career as a trumpeter, member of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. At nineteen (19) years old, due to a lung disease, he had to give up the trumpet and began to study the cello. Later, and with only three years of studies, he gave the Latin American premiere of the “Aram Khachaturian Cello Concerto,” accompanied by the “Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.” Since then, he has performed as a soloist in Venezuela, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Rojas received his Bachelor's degree at the “Simón Bolívar Music Conservatory”, where he studied with professors Carlos Méndez, William Molina, and Paul Dessene. He holds an MA in cello performance from Duquesne University of Pittsburgh, where he studied with Misha Quint and Anne Martindale-Williams. He received his PhD from Michigan State University, focused on the study of the works of Latin American composers.

He has held positions with various orchestras including: Altoona Symphony (Principal Cello), Wheeling Symphony (Associate Principal Cello), and the Pittsburg New Music Ensemble; for two seasons he was a substitute cellist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Opera, as well as substitute in the Grand Rapids Symphony, Michigan. Later, during his stay in Philladelphia, he was Teaching Artist of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Dalí Quartet. He has remained active as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborates with contemporary composers creating new works for the cello. He has been noted for promoting Latin American music and its inclusion in the standard cello repertoire. He has been invited to give lectures and recitals on Latin American music by contemporary composers in California, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and in countries like Venezuela, France, Argentina, Cuba, and Mexico. Currently, Rojas is the Principal Cellist of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico. He is a professor at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. He plays a Matías Herrera Marrosu, Della Scuola Cremonesse, 1995.