Joaquín Rodrigo
"It is truly my pleasure and honor to state that Paul Sanchez is among the great artists who has most contributed to the promotion and learning of the life and music of Joaquín Rodrigo in the United States."
–– Cecilia Rodrigo
Daughter of the composer Joaquín Rodrigo
Marquesa de los Jardines de Aranjuez
President, Victoria and Joaquín Rodrigo Foundation
Paul Sánchez has been interested in the music of Joaquín Rodrigo since his childhood. In 2001, he met Cecilia Rodrigo, daughter of Joaquín Rodrigo, and they have remained in contact since then.
From 2005–2007, Sánchez was a Fulbright fellow in Barcelona, Spain, where he studied with Maria Teresa Monteys and Alicia de Larrocha and earned his Master of Spanish Music degree. The music of Rodrigo was one focus of his time in Spain.
In 2019, Cecilia Rodrigo asked Sánchez to create a concert event in honor of the 20th anniversary of the composer's passing; Rodrigo: A Life in Music, co-authored with ethnomusicologist Michael O'Brien, was the result. Combining narration, still photographs, video footage from the Fundación Victoria y Joaquín Rodrigo, and live musical performance, Rodrigo: A Life in Music tells the story of Rodrigo's life in an immediate and visceral way, connecting moments in his personal history with specific musical expressions and historical events.
"..the production folds in musicians, singers and actors who contribute to a chronological exploration of the man and his music that is done in such a seamless fashion, one form easily elides into the next.... By the end of the evening I felt that I had well fathomed the elegance and singularity of both the musical mind and the man from Valencia...."
–– The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina
"a splendid performance... [by] a top pianist."
–– Cecilia Rodrigo
Paul Sánchez has championed Rodrigo's piano concerto, the Concierto Heroico: a las ruinas de Sagunto, and has performed the work with Delta David Gier, music director, and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.
Aranjuez, ma pensée
Paul Sánchez performs Rodrigo's own transcription of the famous "Adagio" from his "Concierto de Aranjuez." From a presentation of Rodrigo: A Life in Music.
Paul Sánchez first performed Rodrigo's Concierto Heroico in 2001, when, as a freshman at Texas Christian University, he won the TCU concerto competition and performed the work with the TCU Orchestra. The excerpts here are from his performance with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra in 2010.
Sánchez performed "Sonada de adiós" for Cecilia Rodrigo during their first meeting in 2001, and remains one of Sánchez' favorite piano works. This video is from a presentation of Rodrigo: A Life in Music.
"Preludio de añoranza" (1987), by Joaquín Rodrigo. Live performance by Paul Sánchez on October 29, 2019. The "Preludio de añoranza" - translated as "Prelude of Yearning" - was Rodrigo's last published piano work. From a presentation of Rodrigo: A Life in Music.
