This saxophone and piano duo formed by Carlos Montesinos and Gema Arias was born in 2016 at the

city of
Brussels and more concretely at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where the well-known Isaac Albéniz
and Adolph Sax have studied. Since the beginning, the duo chooses to promote the Spanish music through
transcriptions. These arrangements have allowed the saxophone to access to a wide variety of repertory. The
instrumental and musical union between Belgium and Spain is more than evident in this duo.

As commented before, this project has the objective to spread Spanish music and Spanish musicians through
recitals without being specialised in a concrete style. On their repertory figures masterpieces from Enrique
Granados, Manuel de Falla, Pablo Sarasate, between others, specially transcripted for this duo. This allows to
the public to rediscover or directly discover the pieces, performed from another point of view, with all the
colours that this instrumentation can provide.

Gema Arias
Piano

She begins her musical journey at 3 years old. She discovers de piano two years after with the
teacher Isabel Peláez. At 17 years old, she finishes her studies at the Professional Conservatory of
Music of A Coruña with Rosa María Rodríguez, graduating with honors, both in piano and chamber
music. In 2015, she obtains her diploma ‘’cum laude’’ at the High Conservatory of a Coruña.
During her musical career she receives masterclasses from prestigious masters such as Maria
Keilin, José Núñez Ares, Muhiddin Dürrüoğlu, Ivan Klansky, Andrzej Pikul, Stefano Malferrari,
Katia Veekmans, Giuseppe Albanese and Sergei Yerokihn, among others.
Since 2014, she collaborates with the Galician Chamber Music Orchestra (OCGa),playing as a
soloist in 2017, giving concerts all around the Spanish geography and participating at the Festival
Groba in Ponteareas. Alongside with it and the theatre company ‘’Noite Bohemia’’, she prepared
educational concerts as the opera for children in 3D ‘’O Gato con Botas’’ and the drama ‘’Don
Juan Tenorio’’.
In 2017, she obtains one of the prizes in the Competition of New Musical Talents in Santiago de
Compostela, organised by the association Compostela Sound. Also this year, she performs at the
festival ‘’Les Nocturnes’’, organised by the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In June 2018, she is
invited to play at the Yan International Festival in Liège.
All this musical activity has led her to perform in several concert halls in Spain, Portugal and
Belgium.
At this moment, she is continuing to develop her solo and chamber music repertory, that includes
all kind of formations. On the other hand, she is finishing a master degree specialized in piano solo
at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, under the tutelage of Dominique Cornil, Zofia Lalak and
Alexander Besant.

Carlos Montesinos
Saxophone

Born in Ibi (Alicante) in 1991, Carlos Montesinos initiates his apprenticeship in saxophone at the
music school of Ibi. He continues his formation at the “Conservatorio Profesional de Música
Vicente Lillo Cánovas de Sant Vicent Raspeig’’. Later, he obtains his musical degree at the
“Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón” with the masters Mariano García, Nacho Gascón
and Federico Coca. In 2013, an ERASMUS exchange allows him to work with the saxophonist and
composer Jean-Denis Michat. His Master studies were made at the “Conservatoire Royale de
Bruxelles” under the guidance of Alain Crepin and Simon Diricq. During the academic year 2017-
2018 Carlos obtains a scholarship from Vienna International and studies the Promotion program
Artis at the Wiener Musikakademie.

He also has formed part of different ensembles like “Más ensemble”, ‘L’artisanat furieux” or the
project “Musethica”. He gives concerts and recitals in big halls of Spain, France, Belgium, Algeria,
Austria, like: “Fundación Juan March”, “Opéra de Lyon”, “Sala Mozart”, “Radio Algérie”, “Parlement
Bruxellois”, “Palais Royal de Bruxelles”, “Bozar”, “Altes Rathaus
Wien”...
He has been organiser and teacher at the “Saxteneum Fest” festival between 2015 and 2017.
He collaborates with “Ars musica”, “Académie Royal de Bruxelles”, “CAB”, and works with young
composers giving advices on their new pieces.

REPERTORY

Mi bailaora. David Salleras

Jean Yves Fourmeau comments:

I heard MI BAILAORA performed for the first time by David SALLERAS himself during a concert in
Paris. I loved the authenticity and mix of language inspired by both flamenco music and
contemporary music. It is an expressive and virtuoso work that fully emphasises the soprano
saxophone and the interpreter.Bravo to David SALLERAS for his inspiration and his talent.

7 Canciones populares españolas, Manuel de Falla

Arranged by Falla for voice and piano in 1914, this cycle of traditional songs retains the different
styles found in every region of Spain.
El paño moruno- A store reduces the price of a clothing because it has a stain. This is the story
told to us by this song from Murcia, in the south of Spain. The piano that sounds like a guitar and
the voice that follows right after make us travel to the borders of flamenco.
Seguidilla murciana - Seguidilla in music was a well-known dance in the 15th century. With a
ternary rhythm, the piano uses the C as a pedal note, which will gradually change by force of
chromaticism. The voice tells a story about the consequences of bad actions.
Asturiana- From the region of Asturias, a person transmits a deep sadness, a despair that can not
leave her.
Jota- As part of a secret love story we go to the beautiful region of Aragon, where this dance is a
symbol of cultural identity. A very festive spirit represents the scene: the piano imitates the
castañuelas and the voice tells us the tragedy.
Nana- Delicacy and tenderness are the two main elements that can be heard immediately in this
lullaby. The Andalusian style of this piece is very obvious thanks to the melisma that the voice
must reproduce.
Canción - Again, love and betrayal take place in this popular song. With a musical idea that always
changes, the piano sounds like an arpeggiated guitar that establishes a conversation in canon with
the voice.
Polo- After the bitterness of the Canción, we are invaded by the energy of Polo, a very fast
Andalusian dance where a rhythmic pattern that repeats itself creates an invariable framework,
allowing the singer to shout all the pains he has on the heart.

Bohemian airs, Pablo de Sarasate

The Zigeunerweisen (Bohemian Airs) op. 20 are a work written for violin and piano in 1878 by the
Spanish composer Pablo de Sarasate. The work is based on Romanian folk themes, and in the
last section it contains rhythms of csárdás; this section uses a theme already used in Franz Liszt's
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13, composed in 1847.

Allegro de Concierto op. 46, Enrique Granados

Composed in 1903 for a composition competition at the Conservatory of Madrid, this piece has a
great virtuosity that reminds us to Liszt, where we can not however appreciate the great
characteristics of Spanish folklore. Granados, better known for his work Goyescas, develops here
a sonata form nourished by a brilliant lyricism, which combined with a great technical complexity,
makes this piece a forgotten jewel in the current repertoire.
Carmen Brilliant Fantasy, François Borne
The Brilliant Fantasy, composed by François Borne in 1900, is a fantasy for violin written on the
theme of Georges Bizet's opera: Carmen. The fantasy begins with the first theme of this opera, the
theme of "destiny", the song of the girls of the cigarette and the Habanera that is developed with
enthusiasm to arrive to the dance of the gypsies. When it seems that the piece is ready to be
finalised, Borne goes back on everything that happened before with a triumphant declaration of the
famous theme that was missing until now, the song “Toreador”.