Rafael Aguirre is an internationally acclaimed musician whose deep understanding of music, dazzling virtuosity and immensely diverse repertoire has taken him to 34 countries. The beginning of his extraordinary career was marked by winning thirteen First Prizes at some of the most important international competitions for his instrument.

Rafael performs regularly in prestigious venues, including the Verbier Festival, Carnegie Hall in New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vienna Konzerthaus, Moscow Tchaikovsky Hall, Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich, Hamburg Laeiszhalle and Elbphilharmonie, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, King's Place London, Saint Petersburg Philharmonia, the Hyogo Performing Arts Center (Japan) and the Seoul Arts Center (South Korea).

He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras like the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Korea, the Orchestre National de Lyon, Toulon Opera Symphony, Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Thüringen Philharmonic, Robert Schumann Philharmonie Chemnitz, Moscow New Russia, Spanish Radio Television Symphony, Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra, among others, under conductors such as Jesús López Cobos, Lorenzo Viotti, Karina Canellakis, Yoel Levy, Pavel Baleff, Guillermo García Calvo, Sebastian Tewinkel, Clemens Schuldt and Alexandre Myrat.

Rafael Aguirre enjoys performing the traditional guitar repertoire, but additionally seeks to expand and innovate in the repertoire of his instrument, incorporating music from different styles, such as flamenco, chamber music, pop, film music, or Spanish and Latinamerincan folk music, as well as working closely with contemporary composers.

He has recorded two guitar recitals for Naxos, a recital with transcriptions from piano music for KSGExaudio, an album for cello and guitar with Nadège Rochat for Ars Produktion, an album with Lorenzo Palomo’s “Fulgores” with Castilla y León Symphony, violinist Ana Valderrama and Maestro Jesús López Cobos for Naxos and has collaborated in albums with Brazilian music (with Anette Maiburg’s ensemble for the label MDG) and Portuguese fado (with singer Filipa Tavares).

He made his orchestral debut with the “Concierto de Aranjuez” and the Malaga Youth Symphony Orchestra touring Spain and Morocco at age 16. He was awarded scholarships from the Andalusian Government and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation that enabled his studies at the Düsseldorf Hochschule Robert Schumann in Germany with Prof. Joaquin Clerch, where he graduated with highest honors. He later studied with Professor Michael Lewin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Rafael currently lives in Madrid.

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