Roberto Capocchi - Guitarist
Guitarist Roberto Capocchi has performed to critical acclaim throughout his native Brazil, the United States, and Mexico, as well as Canada and Belgium. Mr Capocchi has played on radio on television in the United States and Brazil, and has performed at the Santa Fe Opera with conductors such as Alan Gilbert, David Robertson, and Bernard Rubenstein, with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale with Joshua Haberman and Mathew Tresler, John Kennedy at Santa Fe New Music, as well as with Tom O'Connor, Tina Sandoval, and Andre Garcia-Nuthman.
He often plays and offers workshops at festivals in North and South America, such as the the, Society of Composers Inc., Guitar Northwest, Haydn Festival International, Souza Lima Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival - Music in Our Schools, Serenata of Santa Fe, Peninsula College's Sound of Unity, San Juan College, Seattle University, Taos Community Chorus, Santa Fe ProMusica, Highlands University Madrigal, Millennium Artists, and Violao em Concerto. He has played with musicians such as David Grusin, Celina Charlier, Michael Lich, Tabajara Belo, Brian DeLay, Ellen Chavez de Leitner, Nancy Nielson, Gabriel Ayala, and Tracy Doyle.
He has won top prizes in competitions such as the Sholin Memorial, Stevens Guitar Competition, Young Concert Artists, Villa-lobos Competition, Souza Lima Guitar Competition, Aracatuba Festival, Saint Marcelina Chamber Music Competition, and Mozarteum Competition. He has been a semi-finalist at the Guitar Foundation of America Solo Guitar Competition, Portland Guitar Festival, and was the only solo guitarist selected for the 1997 Premio Eldorado de Musica.
"Roberto Capocchi Plays Spanish Guitar Music," is a solo 2010 CD with music by Isaac Albeniz, Regino Sainz de la Maza, Joaquin Turina, and Francisco Tarrega. "Tangos de Santa Fe - Matapolvos" is a 2009 release of the music of Ron Strauss, where he plays the suite "Tangos de Santa Fe" with Carol Redman on flute and Pamela Epple on English horn, and with violinist Ellen Chavez de Leitner, he released “Duo Guadalupe: Music for Violin and Guitar” in 2003.
Mr. Capocchi received music degrees from the Lins de Vasconcelos Conservatory and Carlos Gomes College in Brazil. He is a doctoral candidate in Performance and Music Theory at the Bolton Guitar Studies Program at the University of Arizona, where he received a Master of Music Degree in Music Performance. He is a recipient of the University of Arizona Dean's Fund for Excellence, William Wolf Scholarship, and various travel grants. His teachers have included Thomas Patterson, Henrique Pinto and Sandra Costa (guitar instructors) Conrado Paulino and Kiko Moura (Jazz and Brazilian Music) and Ricardo Rizek (theory).
He has performed in master-classes and been coached by such notable artists as David Russell, Sergio Abreu, Sergio Assad, Odair Assad, David Leisner, Paul O'Dette, Oscar Ghiglia, Sila Godoy, Ivan Rijos, Mario Ulloa, Alice Artzt, Orlando Fraga, Paulo Porto Alegre, Benjamin Verdery, Rene Izquierdo, Luis Claudio Ferreira, Eduardo Meirinhos, Margarita Escarpa, and Den-Min Yeh. He has also attended workshops with Yo-Yo Ma, Walter Bianchi, Alexandre Lagoya, Midori, and Violeta Hemsy de Gaínza.
Mr. Capocchi is on faculty at New Mexico Highlands University, United World College, Santa Fe University of Art and Design, New Mexico School for the Arts, and at Adams State College. He is a member of the Performance Advisory Board of the College Music Society. He has taught at the University of Arizona, College of Santa Fe, MUSICI, Souza Lima Conservatory, Santa Fe Waldorf High School, Ortiz Middle School through a grant from the Rebekahs, and Sweeney Elementary though a grant from the Thaw Foundation. His students have won prizes at the Columbus State University Guitar Competition, Souza Lima Competition, Mishler Scholarship, Tucson Jazz Society Award, Santa Fe ProMusica Young Concert Artist, Colorado All State Jazz Band, New Mexico All State Guitar Ensemble, New Mexico All State Jazz Band, and Shaefer Guitar Competition. They also have been awarded scholarships at the University of Northern Colorado, Berklee School of Music, North Carolina School for the Arts, University of Arizona, Killington Music Festival, and New Mexico Highlands University.
The guitars he uses are a 1988 Sergio Abreu, from Brazil, a 1996 Gioachino Giussani, from Italy, and a 2010 Robert Ruck, from the USA.