Edward Pulgar
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Edward Pulgar is a Venezuelan violinist and conductor.
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[edit] Early life and education
Born in Caracas, Pulgar was trained through the National Youth Orchestra System in Venezuela. He began musical studies at age eight in solfege, percussion and violin; his teachers included Giusseppe Maiolino, Miroslaw Kulikowsky, and Józef Szatanek. At thirteen years old, he won the special prize in the Juan Bautista Plaza V National Violin Competition and several other competitions in Venezuela. He continued his studies in violin and orchestral conducting at the Conservatorio José Luis Paz of Maracaibo, the Conservatorio Simón Bolívar, and the Latin-American Violin Academy under José Francisco del Castillo in Caracas. Pulgar earned an artist diploma from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and recently a masters in music performance from Michigan State University.
[edit] Career
Pulgar has played as a soloist with several symphonic orchestras in Venezuela, and at concert halls throughout South America, the United States and Europe, including Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex of Caracas, Centro de Arte Lía Bermúdez of Maracaibo, Panama's National Theatre, Beethovensaal of Stuttgart and Bonn, Teatro Colón of Bogotá, and the PNC Recital Hall and Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh. At twenty years old, Pulgar made his debut as a conductor with the Fifth Symphony by Tchaikovsky and the Zulia Symphony Orchestra. The same year he became concertmaster of the Zulia Symphony, and three years later he became a member of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. He has also been a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra in Michigan and associate principal violin of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra in West Virginia.
Pulgar continues his work in solo and chamber music in the U.S. and Latin America, along with guest appearances as conductor. He is the founding first violinist of the Vocis String Quartet and Associate Principal Violinist of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in Tennessee.
[edit] Critical reviews
"Large and beautiful sonority, with impeccable intonation...."
"...The concerto was superbly executed by Edward Pulgar..."
"In the Saint-Saëns, Pulgar exploited with great freedom the possibilities of the violin..."
"The audience gave back [to Mr. Pulgar] the same stamp he sealed in both pieces of very high levels of technique, with much applause and a well-deserved ovation..."
"A soloist of admirable pedagogy..."
"[Mr.] Edward Pulgar draws music when he conducts"
