Magdalena Duhagon

Born in Uruguay, guitarist Magdalena Duhagon has performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East and South America, giving concerts in cities like Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Alexandria, Cairo, Beirut, Amman, Prague and Amsterdam. She has performed at Halls such as the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Cairo Opera House and the Wallenstein Palace in Prague, where she was soloist with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. She has also been soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Montevideo, Uruguay, the Pan American Symphony Orchestra from Washington DC and Cantigas and ProCantare choirs in Maryland, USA. Her performances have been broadcast by the National Polish Radio and worldwide by the Voice of America, and she has been interviewed for Radio France and for International News Agencies as EFE and AFP. Articles about her work have appeared in international classical guitar magazines such as Classical Guitar from the United Kingdom and Gendai Guitar from Japan. The Washingtonian Magazine (USA, september 2014) named her as “one of the notable guitarists recommended for lessons”.

Duhagon was classical guitar Professor at George Washington University and at American University in Washington DC and has given Masterclasses at the Guitar Festival of Ireland, at the Conservatoire D’Alexandrie in Egypt and at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. She has been a judge at the Myrna Sislen Guitar Competition and at the Marlin-Engel solo competition. In 2005 she was a member of the National Orchestral Institute at Maryland University under famous conductor Gerard Schwarz. She has also worked with the 21st Century Consort, InSeries Opera company, Capitol Tap dance ensemble and participated in Pulitzer winner composer Raven Chacon’s performance of …lahgo adil’i dine doo yeehosinilgii yidaaghi at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, conducted by the composer.

Ms. Duhagon won First Prize at the first-ever competition organized by the Uruguayan «Luis Tróccolli» Cultural Foundation in 1996. She also won first prizes as well as scholarships from the Uruguayan Society of Performers (SUDEI), the Uruguayan Guitar Society, The Association of Music Students (AEMUS) and Jeunesses Musicales of Uruguay. In the United States Ms. Duhagon earned a Masters Degree in Music in Guitar Performance and Pedagogy and a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University under Ray Chester. To complete her studies at Peabody Ms. Duhagon received a Fulbright Scholarship, a Peabody Merit Scholarship and a Fellowship from the Organization of the American States.

A critic from the newspaper El Día in Uruguay wrote about her playing: «Her performance at the Vaz Ferreira Auditorium has been for me, as a critic, one of the 1999-2000 season’s main satisfactions… because of her refined expressiveness as well as for the enchantment of her phrasing and her transparent sound…(She) gave proofs of expressive and technical rigor». About her first CD album the Japanese magazine AppleJam Guitar Player said: “there is no doubt that this CD will become part of your treasure the minute you purchase it. Her music is both elegant, powerful and utterly beautiful.” Her second album, “11 thousand steps”, also received excellent reviews.

Magdalena Duhagon holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music in Guitar Performance from the University Music School of Uruguay where she studied under Mario Paysee. She had also studied under Berta Rojas, Abel Carlevaro, Eduardo Fernández, Eduardo Isaac, Manuel Barrueco and Esteban Klísich. Her beginner guitar studies were under Julio Vallejo and Edison Barrios, and she also pursued violin studies under Ludmila Cavallaro, playing in several youth orchestras in her home country.

As a chamber musician she was part of the Rojas- Duhagon Guitar Duo with guitarist Berta Rojas and was also a member of the Del Sur Guitar Quartet with Berta Rojas, Nestor Ausqui and Marcelo Cornut. She has also been part of duets with flutist Pablo Somma and soprano Amalia Laborde and currently performs in duo with violist Eddie Matus. In the US she was part of the faculties at the Washington Conservatory of Music, the North Potomac School of Music, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, Middle C Music and the International School of Music.

Magdalena Duhagon was associate artistic director of the Ibero-American Guitar Festival of Washington DC for its first three editions and was artistic director and producer of the Strings Concert Series in Maryland.

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