The Quantum Ensemble is a group from Tenerife that stands out for an ambitious programme that combines the contemporary repertoire with works from the last three centuries. Since its establishment, the instrumental group has shown a firm commitment to the encouragement of musical creation, which has been reflected in the global premières of works written by the composers Laura Vega, Gustavo Trujillo, Juan Manuel Ruiz, Gustavo Díaz-Jerez, Rubens Askenar, Kuzma Bodrov and Leonardo Balada.
The Quantum Ensemble attracts very prestigious national and international soloists and chamber groups with which it regularly collaborates, such as Alexander Sitkovesky, Asier Polo, Maxim Rysanov, Frederieke Saeijs, Alissa Margulis, Tatiana Samouil, Emil Rovner, Óscar Sala, Cecilia Bercovich, Javier Negrín, Romain Guyot, the Minetti String Quartet, the Lendvai String Quartet, the Elias String Quartet, the Spanish Brass and the Fauré Quartett.
Through an ambitious programme of educational activities formed by teaching units designed expressly by specialists in the field of the dissemination of classical music, among whom it is worth mentioning Marina Hervás, Belén Otxotorena and Eva Sandoval, the Quantum Ensemble also approaches a younger audience. Likewise, the group also believes in the need to share the experience of chamber music with those who, due to social and economic circumstances, feel more distanced or directly excluded from classical music. In this regard, its weeks of work included the visit of groups from ONCE, Trisómicos 21, ASPERCAN (Asperger’s Association of the Canary Islands), Pro-Infancia (EduCaixa) and many others.
Raquel Lojendio – soprano
The solid career of the Canarian soprano Raquel Lojendio has been mainly based on her versatility as a singer and artist. She encompasses an extensive repertoire from Bach to Verdi and Wagner. She has worked under the direction of conductors such as Sir Neville Marriner, Frühbeck de Burgos, Gianluigi Gelmetti, David Reiland, Juanjo Mena, Vassili Petrenko, among others. She has performed with the main Spanish orchestras and abroad, such as Berliner Fhilharmoniker, Boston Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfónica Nazionale della Rai de Torino, Bergen Filharmoniske Orkestyer, Dresdner Philarmonie, etc. The career of Lojendio encompasses recitals, symphony concerts, opera and zarzuela, her repertoire notably includes Violetta in La Traviata, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Marguerite in Faust, Symphonies 2, 4 and 8 by Mahler, Vier letzte Lieder by Strauss, on stages as important as the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Teatro Real, Maestranza in Sevilla, Tanglewood Festival, Manchester Bridgewater Hall George Enescu Festival, Toulouse Halle aun Grains, the Teatro Colón in Bogota, among others. She has recorded for leading labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, RTVE Música, Chandos and IBS Classical. Lojendio is trained in classical ballet through the Royal Academy of Dance in London.
Ellinor D’Melon – violin
At the age of twenty-one he already enjoys an important international career, having performed with such respected conductors as Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Spivakov, Jaime Martín, James Feddeck, and Zakhar Bron, among others, and with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Gävle Symphony Orchestra of Sweden, the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Sofia Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Spain, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Galicia, and the Symphony Orchestras of Castilla y León, Tenerife, Principality of Asturias, and Navarra.
He has also performed in such prestigious halls as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Philharmonie in Cologne, the Tonhalle in Zurich and the Sala Verdi in Milan, and at festivals such as Verbier, Gstaad, Schlesswig-Holstein, Olympus Musical, Interlarken Classics and Wieniawski, among others.
He plays a 1743 Giovanni Baptista Guadagnini violin, kindly lent by an anonymous donor from London.
Cristo Barrios – clarinet
He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall, Palau de la Música (Barcelona and Valencia), Konzerthaus (Vienna and Berlin), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and Auditorio Nacional (Madrid). As a chamber musician he has shared the stage with the quartets Brodsky, Arditti, Endellion, Elias and Minetti. As a soloist, his debut with the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev stands out. He has given master classes at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam, Sibelius Academy (Helsinki), Liszt Academy (Budapest), Zurich University of Arts, Conservatoire de Strasbourg, Norwegian Academy of Music and Conservatory of Cologne. His interest in making progress in pedagogical and performative research has led him to earn a doctorate in musicology from the Complutense University and he is a professor at the Katarina Gurska Higher Centre (Madrid).
Asier Polo – cello
Considered the most outstanding Spanish cellist of his generation, Asier Polo studied with the maestros E. Pascu, M. Kliegel and I. Moniguetti, and also received great advice from J. Starker, N. Gutman and M. Rostropovich. He has received distinctions such as the “Ojo Crítico” from RNE (2002), the CEOE Foundation Award (2004), the Illustrious Person of Bilbao (2009) and the National Music Prize (2019). Polo has an intense career as a soloist, along with different orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia Orchestra, Symphony of Sao Paulo, Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester, RAI of Torino, BBC Philharmonic, etc. He has 19 album projects, outstanding ones are the Sonatas by Brahms, Rachmaninov, Franck, the Vivaldi Concerts, Boccherini, Haydn and the Suites by Bach. Composers as prestigious as L. de Pablo, A. García Abril, J. Villarojo, G. Erkoreka, J. Torres have devoted their works to him. He is currently a professor at the Conservatoire of Lugano (Switzerland). Asier Polo plays a Francesco Rugieri cello (Cremona, 1689) loaned by the Banco Santander Foundation.
Gustavo Díaz-Jerez – Piano
Gustavo Díaz-Jerez is one of the greatest exponents of musical interpretation and creation in Spain. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Allice Tully Hall, the Musikverein, the Concertgebouw, etc. He has performed as a soloist under the baton of Skrowaczevski, Fischer, Bamert, Lü Jia, Herbig, Encinar and Víctor Pablo with the main Spanish orchestras, such as the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria, the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Spanish radio RTVE, the Galicia Symphony Orchestra, etc and with foreign orchestras, such as the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of Turin, the Northern Symphonia, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, among others. He is currently a professor at Musikene (Basque Country), holds a PhD in musical arts (Manhattan School of Music), and is a Permanent Academician at the Real Academia Canaria San Miguel Arcángel.
Pablo Díaz – arranger
He studied violin at the Reina Sofía Higher School of Music with Marco Rizzi, and in Amsterdam with Vera Beths. He won an award at the Eleventh Intercentros Melómano Competition. With Trío Ramales he has performed on the most important stages and won different national and international competitions. In 2019 he obtained the diploma for the most excellent chamber music pupil alongside Grupo Contrastes. A composition student of David del Puerto, he has released several works: Trio for violin, cello and piano no.1 (Palau de la Música) and no.2 (Chamber music competition of CajaCanarias), Sonata for saxophone and piano (Festival of Tres Cantos), Three miniatures for flute and piano (RNE) and Another World, for solo violin (Sony Auditorium), as well as transcriptions (Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, Auditorio de Tenerife).