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St Giles' Spotlight: Jorge Fuentes - Frontiers and Resonances, Mexican and Latin American Guitar Recital

Coming from a family of traditional musicians in the southwestern part of the state, Jorge began his studies at the Conservatorio de Música de Chihuahua at age 14. After nine years of training, he earned his degree as an Instrumental Musician, always standing out for his musicianship. In 2013, he became the first musician from Chihuahua to win first place in a national music performance competition.

Throughout his career, he has taken over 20 masterclasses with internationally renowned guitarists and has participated in advanced training courses in England, Scotland, and Mexico. As a soloist, he has brought his music to numerous prestigious venues, performing at the Cathedral of the Isles in the Cumbrae Islands of Scotland, the Michael Tippett Centre in Bath, England, and the IMEX-SEP in Madrid, Spain. In his home country, he has shared his art in iconic spaces such as the Sala Xochipilli at the National School of Music and the Plaza de las Artes at CENART in Mexico City. Additionally, he has performed as a soloist with orchestras at major venues, where he had the opportunity to share the stage alongside renowned guitarist Marco Tamayo, accompanied by the Philharmonic Orchestra of the State of Chihuahua (OFECH). These are just a few of the venues where he has performed, as his career has taken him across stages in various parts of Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Europe.

In 2022, the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music awarded him a scholarship to pursue a master's degree in music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Allan Neave. That same year, he became the first performer from Chihuahua to earn first place in an international competition, winning the First State North East Classical Guitar Society Competition in the United Kingdom. After successfully completing his postgraduate studies and having achieved a certain level of prestige, his deep-rooted sense of national identity and belonging led him to rethink his path. Having lost his father to the pandemic, it was precisely the profound sense of community inherent to Mexican culture, with its strong attachment to family, that drove him to return to his country. Beyond his personal and professional growth, his commitment to his family, his community, and his people brought him back to Mexico to care for them and actively contribute to the cultural development of his homeland.

Since then, he has taken a social turn in his artistic approach, commissioning works from composers around the world, with a special emphasis on creators from his home state of Chihuahua. However, more than a purely artistic endeavor, this initiative is grounded in the need to address the challenges facing his state, using music as a means of reflection and social awareness. As part of this effort, in 2023 he became the first performer from Chihuahua to premiere works from his state in the United Kingdom, and in 2024, in Europe, solidifying his mission to showcase the cultural richness of his region. His work seeks to demonstrate that Chihuahua not only exports auto parts and raw materials, but also highly specialized services such as the fine arts.

Songe Capricorne — Roland Dyens

Migraciones y Sincretismos — Lupino Caballero

Danza Paraguaya — Agustín Barrios Mangoré

Three Forest Paintings — Konstantin Vassiliev

The Old Oak

Snowdrop

Dance of the Forest Ghosts

Moonshine — Lupino Caballero

Variations on a Mexican Theme — Alan Sánchez

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15 July

Celebrity Organ Recitals: Jeremiah Stephenson

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19 July

St Giles' at Six: Duo Ultima