DUO LOPEZ TABOR
Alfonso Lopez, violinist, conductor, composer, and teacher, is one of the most versatile and prominent musicians of his generation in Venezuela. He is the concertmaster of the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra (OSV) which, as the national symphony, is the oldest and principal orchestra of the country (founded in 1930). The OSV has been nominated twice, in 2013 and 2017, to receive a Latin Grammy award. He regularly conducts the OSV several times each season, is the conductor and music director of a youth orchestra that specializes in Venezuelan folk music, and is often a guest conductor of other orchestras. He is a professor of violin at the Emil Friedman School, one of the most outstanding private musical and general educational institutions in the country. Mr. Lopez received his high school diploma from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan; then completed a B.A. (Summa Cum Laude) and an M.A. (Highest Honors) in music from the University of Michigan. He has also received advanced musical training in Austria and England. His principal violin teachers were Emil Friedman, Julia Bushkova, and Paul Kantor. As a concertmaster, he has performed with various orchestras in international festivals, the chamber orchestra Virtuosi de Caracas, and the Camerata Criolla also in Caracas. He has performed as a soloist with the OSV on several occasions. He is a founding member and first violinist of the Friedman String Quartet, an ensemble that has performed many times in the most important concert halls in Caracas. His orchestral work, Caribe Pirana, was premiered in 2000 by the OSV in Caracas. His String Serenade(2007) has been performed in Russia (world premiere in 2007), Belarus, Cuba, Reno, NV, several Latin American countries, and was premiered in Venezuela with himself as conductor of the OSV in 2008. His Vida Plena was performed by the Boston Latin American Orchestra. His Tumbao y Bailao (2017) has been performed in Caracas, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Outside of Venezuela he has concertized as a soloist in Spain, Italy, the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Michelle Tabor, pianist, holds B.F.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in piano and music theory from Tulane University in New Orleans, The University of Denver, and Florida State University, respectively. She has also pursued her research interests in Latin American art music of the twentieth century and has published articles about the Argentinian composers, Alberto Ginastera and Juan Carlos Paz in the journal, Latin American Music Review of the University of Texas Press. She has presented lecture/recitals and research papers at national and regional meetings of the College Music Society (CMS), regional meetings of the American Musicological Society, and at a special international conference on Latin American music held in Chicago, IL, where she presented an invited paper. She served as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Southern /Chapter of the CMS from 1997 to 1999, and during the fall semester of 1999 was a Visiting Assistant Professor of music theory at Florida State University. Since 2000 she has concentrated more on performance. She has presented a number of recitals in Caracas, Venezuela with flutist Dr. Karen Garrison, then a member of the music faculty at Auburn University, AL. With Venezuelan violinists she has performed recitals in the southeastern U.S. during numerous tours since 2000; and with these violinists she has presented lecture/recitals at national and regional meetings of the CMS. She has performed with Alfonso Lopez in the U.S. (at colleges and universities, on concert series of churches and concert associations, at retirement communities) and Venezuela since 2004. In Caracas Lopez and Tabor have performed in prominent chamber music series and festivals, such as Pro Musica de Camara, the Friedman Festival of Chamber Music, the series Recital con la Sinfonica at the Asociacion Cultural Humboldt, and the Centro Cultural Croata. Dr. Tabor grew up in Caracas and currently lives in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.