Francisco Martínez
Concert Artist and Educator
Born in San Juan (Alicante), Maestro Martínez completed his formal music study in Alicante and Madrid. Later he completed additional studies in France with Daniel Deffayet, Serge Bichon, and J.M. Londeix among others.
His performances consist of concerts in various halls within Europe and the United States. In Spain, he has performed at the Auditorio Nacional, Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Teatro Monumental in Madrid, Palau de la Música in Valencia, Contemporary Art Institute of Barcelona, Festivals in Alicante, León, Salamanca, Granada, Málaga, Valencia. In Europe, his resumé includes performances at the Royal Conservatory of Paris, Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris, Pierre Thibaud Hall in Bordeaux, the festivals of Annecy, Aix Les Bans, Angers and Gap in France, the Tilburg and Enschede Auditoriums in The Netherlands, the Contemporary Art Institute of London, as well as performances in Belgium, Italy, Moldavia, and Slovenia. Within North America, he has performed at the University of Québec in Montreal, Canada, the University of Minnesota, and UCLA in the United States. His Asian performance resumé is highlighted by a performance at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand.
Highlights include work as a soloist with the UCLA Contemporary Ensemble in Los Angeles, the Instrument Ensemble of the Royal Air Forces of Belgium, the Symphonic Orchestra of Córdoba, the International Orchestra Ensemble of Italy, the Gerhard Project, the Chamber Orchestra Villa de Madrid, the Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra, the Madrid Symphonic Orchestra, the Radio and Television Orchestra of Kishinev, Moldavia, the Minsk Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mediterranean Symphonic Orchestra and the Savitra Chamber Orchestra. With the four last groups he performed respectively the world premiere of the Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra by Manuel Seco, the Spanish premiere of the Edison Denisov Concerto, the world premiere of the Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra by Carlos Cruz de Castro, and the world premiere of the “Fuego Azul”, Concerto for Saxophone, Piano, and Chamber Orchestra by Claudio Prieto.
Several of his performances have been broadcast on Spanish National Radio, Spanish Television, Swedish and English television, Radio France, FR3, RAI, RTBF Brussels, RTL Luxemburg and BRT, and Moldavian Radio and Television. More than 140 composers have written works for him, which he later premiered as a soloist or with the Sax-Ensemble group. Mr. Martínez is the artistic director of Sax-Ensemble and award winner of the Spanish Ministry of Culture’s National Music Award for Interpretation, the first time in history that such an award was granted to a chamber music group. He has also recorded sixteen albums with “RTVE Música,” “Autor,” “Verso,” and “Canticum” records.
As an educator, he has taught courses in Vigo, Madrid, Benidorm, the European University of the Saxophone in Gap, France, the European University of the Saxophone in San Juan, Alicante, Ciudad Real, Almagro, el Escorial, and Madrid. He has also taught Master Classes in Utrera (Sevilla), Madrid, the University of California in Los Angeles and the University of Minnesota in the USA, the Art School of Kishinev, the Amsterdam, Enschede, and Tilburg Conservatories in the Netherlands, and in Bordeaux, France. He has participated on various occasions in international saxophone juries.
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He was the founder of the Association of Spanish Saxophonists, and organizer of many activities to promote the saxophone in Spain. In 1987 he organized in Alicante the II European Saxophone Meeting, where the Sax-Ensemble performed for the first time..gif)
He is one of the saxophonists who has contributed most to the saxophone repertoire in the last 30 years. His activity has led to the world premiere of 150 works for saxophone and the publication of 14 CDs and 2 DVDs so far. He has performed in over 15 countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe and has performed five world premieres of concerts with orchestra.
