Cordillera Project
Rodolfo Zanetti
bandoneón
Rodolfo Zanetti is a renowned performer of the bandoneón, a type of concertina particularly popular in his native Argentina and an essential instrument in tango ensembles.
Zanetti’s distinguished career has seen him perform at prestigious institutions throughout the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Lisner Auditorium, the Embassy of Argentina, the Organization of American States, and the Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia, one of Argentina’s most prominent wine and cultural events.
He has collaborated with a wide variety of distinguished performers and ensembles, including GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winner Emilio Solla, the Mancifesta Orchestra and Tango & Punto, the Choir of the National University of Cuyo, Opera Hispánica under the direction of Jorge Parodi—where they premiered his Tango Opera Las Maldiciones—and distinguished concert harpist Ann Hobson.
Zanetti's accolades include winning First Prize at the "Che Bandoneón International Competition" receiving a Latin Grammy for his work on “Vigor Tanguero", and a nomination for Best Tango Album from the Latin Grammy Awards for his work on the recording "Tango of the Americas”.
Zanetti is also a founding member of the Cordillera Project, a collaboration with the renowned Alturas Duo. This newly formed trio explores art music from around the world through the distinctive combination of bandoneon, viola, guitar, and charango.
Zanetti studied bandoneón with Jorge Puebla and Hilario Alberto Iribarne, and piano with Monica Rizzo and Roberto Urbay at the Faculty of Arts of the National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.
Carlos Boltes
viola & charango
Carlos Boltes was born in Santiago, Chile, where he began his musical studies by learning the charango from his older brother, Giovanni Vaccani. He later joined the Chilean ensemble Barrocco Andino touring extensively throughout South America. He then formed Alturas Duo with Canadian guitarist Scott Hill and over the course of their 25-year collaboration, they have premiered more than 70 new works while concertizing extensively throughout North, Central, South America, and Europe.
He has received numerous honors including First Prize at the New England International Chamber Music Competition, the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, the Jury Award at World Folk Vision Competition as “Best Latin Band", the Individual Artist Fellowship from the Boston Fund, a Performance Fellowship from the Andes Foundation and was also the recipient of Connecticut’s “Latino de Oro” Award.
He also performs as part of the Elqui Trio with flutist and Andean woodwind expert Gonzalo Cortés as well as with the ADAA Trio with distinguished French pianist and soprano Alexandra Aubert. Additionally, he has served as the principal violist for the Chamber Orchestra of the Municipal Theatre of Santiago, the Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra of Connecticut and has recorded for Naxos, Brioso, Ravello and CBS Records.
In addition to his performing career, Mr. Boltes is also a dedicated music educator. He was on faculty for the Community Division of the University of Hartford, and Intempo where he taught charango, viola, and violin. He has worked as a teacher at numerous festivals throughout Latin America, including the Eleazar de Carvalho Festival in Brazil, Bolivia Clásica in La Paz, the Calbuco Summer Festival and the Mancera Festival in Calbuco and Valdivia, Chile, respectively.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and a Master’s degree in Viola Performance from Carnegie Mellon University. His principal teachers have included Enrique López, Atar Arad, and Larry Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet.
Scott Hill
guitar
Scott Hill has performed with orchestras, choirs, instrumentalists, and vocalists throughout Canada, United States, Europe, and South America as a soloist and chamber musician. As a member of the Alturas Duo, collaborator and soloist, he has premiered more than eighty pieces of new music, won the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Adventurous Programming award, he has been awarded grants from New Music USA, the Chilean Arts Council, the Canada Arts Council and is also a laureate winner of the World Folk Vision awards.
He has collaborated with a wide range of instrumentalists and ensembles including bandoneon player, Daniel Binelli, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, Callisto Quartet, East Coast Contemporary Ballet, Vista Philharmonic flutist Melanie Chirignan and the Voce Choir of Hartford. He has recently premiered music by Leo Brouwer, Javier Farias, Karina and Javier Contreras, Olga Amelkina-Vera, Thais Nascimento, and Vera de Andrade.
In addition to his work with the Alturas Duo, he is a former Play USA/Carnegie Hall Lead Teaching Artist and Suzuki qualified guitar instructor. He has recently given masterclasses at the Familia Assad Music Festival in Brasil and has judged at the Columbus Guitar Symposium in Georgia, US. Mr. Hill earned an Honours in music from Lakehead University; a Master of Music in Guitar Performance and a Graduate Professional Diploma in chamber performance from the Hartt School of Music.