Jorge Saade-Scaff
Jorge Saade-Scaff, has been described as Ecuador’s most outstanding violinist. Mark Holston, music critic for the “AMERICAS“magazine, Washington DC wrote: “…one of the best young classical musicians of the Americas…his reputation as Ecuador’s violin virtuoso is reinforced by this haunting, richly rewarding selection”. From his recital with guitarist Julio Almeida (Duo Paganini) at the Royal Festival Hall in London: “….the range and variety of the performances was truly exceptional. Such was the artistry of these players (Saade and Almeida), and their superbly chamber-musical collaboration intuition, that they truly impressed the audience throughout…..a fascinating and eminently worthwhile evening.” Robert Matthew-Walker MUSICAL OPINION Magazine, London, Sept-Oct. edition 2009
Mr. Saade is a Gold Medal graduate from the Antonio Neumane National Conservatory of Music in Guayaquil, Ecuador, a Cum Laude graduate from the University of Miami (B.M. 1993), where he studied with renowned violinist and pedagogue Thomas Moore. He obtained a Master’s degree from The Catholic University of American in Washington DC (M.M. 2003), where he studied with violinist Robert Gerle. In 1995, he was the only Ecuadorian and Latin American accepted at the Mozarteum Institute in Salzburg, Austria, to study with violin virtuoso Ruggiero Ricci.
He has performed concerts and recitals in 45 countries in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europa and the Middle East, in such famous halls as the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Carnegie Hall in New York, the Sydney Opera House, Cairo Opera House, the Teatro Colón y Buenos Aires, the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico, the National Theater for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Teatro Di Marcello in Rome, Les Invalides in Paris, the United Nations in Geneva, the Marble Room and the Duna Palace in Budapest, the Palazzo Tursi, Palazzo Ducale and the Paganini Hall at the Paganini Conservatory in Genoa, the Royal Palace in Warsaw, the Mayakowski Museum in Moscow, Beethoven Haus in Bonn, Schubert Haus in Vienna, the Americas Museum in Madrid, the Min-On Recital Hall in Tokyo, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress in Washington DC, the Albert Long Hall in Istanbul, the Assembly Hall in Beirut, the Teatro Solis in Montevideo, the Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas, the Teatro Ruben Dario in Managua, the Teatro Amadeo Roldan in Havana, the Teatro Santo Domingo in Bogota, la Casa de la Música in Quito, among others. Mr. Saade has performed as a guest soloist with the Washington Symphony Orchestra, the Vac Symphony Orchestra in Hungary, the Belarus National Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the Minsk Classical Orchestra, the El Salvador, Honduras, Cuba, Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru and Ecuador National Symphony Orchestras, the Qatar, Montevideo and Bogota Philharmonic Orchestras, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela, the Mexico Choir Symphony Orchestra, the Paraguay National Congress Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Ana Symphony Orchestra in Costa Rica, the Czech Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, the Remenyi Ede Chamber Orchestra from Hungary, the Hellenic Camerata from Greece, the Panama Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Bach from Nicaragua, the Vivaldi Chamber Orchestra of Guayaquil, the Arlington Symphony Orchestra, Thayer Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia, Rome Symphony Orchestra, Glazier Symphony Orchestra, the Pan-American Symphony Orchestra from Washington DC, the Guayaquil, Cuenca and Loja Symphony Orchestras in Ecuador, the Ecuadorian and Peruvian National Youth Symphony Orchestras, among others.
Mr. Saade has been the recipient of numerous awards. In 2007 for the second time in his career the President of Ecuador honored him as a “Grand Officer” of the National Merit Order, this award is the highest decoration given by the Ecuadorian Government. In 2016 the IMELE University from Mexico and in 2019 the University of Morelos in Mexico, awarded him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa degree. In 2018 the Association of Entertainment Critics ACE of New York awarded him with the ACE AWARD for his acclaimed recital at Carnegie Hall. Most recently the Latin-American Music Institute ILM appointed him Ambassador for the Andean Region.
Mr. Saade served as President of the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra board from 2015 to 2016, Guayaquil Cultural Director from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage from 2011 to 2015, Cultural and Press Attaché of the Ecuadorian Embassy and Cultural Representative of Ecuador to the Organization of the American States in Washington DC from 1997 to 2003.
Currently Mr. Saade is the General Director of the Philharmonic Department of the Municipality of Guayaquil, Honorary Consul of Belgium in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Professor of Violin, Viola, Chamber Music and Ensamble at the Arts University of Ecuador UArtes, in Guayaquil, Honorary Professor at the “Ricardo Palma” University in Lima, Peru and Honorary Professor at the National Conservatory of Music in Guayaquil.