“This orchestra is amazing – in my opinion, it’s the best in the world. I had a perfect start here, because my first journey with the orchestra was to Madrid, where I had studied. I remembered the times when I played in the concert hall there as a student – and now with the Berliner Phiharmoniker! I can’t describe how overwhelming that feeling was.”
At the age of eight, Joaquín Riquelme García was actually hoping to take up the violin, but because all the openings for that instrument at the music school had already been filled, he decided for the viola – and immediately fell in love with its dark, warm sound. When he was twelve he determined to become an orchestral musician. After completing his training with distinction at Madrid’s Royal Conservatory of Music under Emilio Mateu and Alan Kovacs, he undertook postgraduate studies with Hartmut Rohde at Berlin’s Universität der Künste, finishing with his graduate recital. He also participated in master courses given by, among others, Jesse Levine and Jean Sulem.
Joaquín Riquelme García began his orchestral career as assistant principal viola in the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and moved from that position directly to the Berliner Philharmoniker. The violist also frequently appears as a soloist, with orchestras including the Philharmonie Baden-Baden and the Asturias Symphony Orchestra in Spain. As a chamber player he collaborates with various ensembles and musicians, for example Christian Zacharias, Natalie Chee and Mikhail Kopelman. He likes sports and cooking.
