Jorge Saade (born in Guayaquil, Ecuador; full name: Jorge Saade-Scaff) is violinist.[1]
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Mr. Saade is a "Gold Medal" graduate of the “Antonio Neumane” National Conservatory of Music. He is a “Cum Laude” graduate from the University of Miami where he received his Bachelors Degree in Music. He holds a Master of Music Degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., where he studied with violinist and pedagogue Robert Gerle. He was the first Latin American accepted at the Mozarteum Institute in Salzburg, Austria, where he studied with violin virtuoso Ruggiero Ricci. He is of Lebanese background.
During his career, Mr. Saade has been the recipient of many awards and decorations, including the “Keys to the City of Miami” presented to him by the Dade County Commissioner. In 2000, he was decorated by the President of the Ecuadorian Congress with the “Congressional Award for Cultural Merit”. For his work for Ecuadorian arts and culture the President of Ecuador honored him as a "Commander" of the National Merit Order, proclaiming him "Ecuador's Cultural Ambassador". In 2004 , the Ecuadorian Congress honored him with its highest cultural decoration, the "Dr. Vicente Rocafuerte" Medal for Cultural Merit and the Minister of Culture and Education of Ecuador decorated him with the highest cultural decoration given by the Ministry, the Medal for Cultural and Artistic Merit in First Degree. Most recently, the Guayaquil Journalist Association honored him with the "Angelo Negri" Medal for Cultural Merit.
Mr. Saade has been featured as soloist with the Czech Virtuosi Orchestra, the Washington Symphony Orchestra, the Czech-Moravian Virtuosi Orchestra, the Hellenic Camerata from Greece, the Honduras National Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar of Venezuela, the Arlington Symphony Orchestra, Thayer Symphony Orchestra, the Pan-American Symphony Orchestra, the Kutztown Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Ana Chamber Orchestra of Costa Rica, the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra, the Loja Symphony Orchestra, the National Conservatory Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador, the Ecuadorian Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Cuenca Chamber Orchestra, the “Antonio Neumane” Chamber orchestra, the "Antonio Vivaldi" Chamber Orchestra, and has performed concerts and recitals in London, Paris, New York, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Moscow, Budapest, Stockholm, The Hage, The Vatican City, Washington, Miami, Bonn, Hamburg, Cologne, Bremen, Hanover, Düsseldorf, Viersen, Salzburg, Sao Paolo, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Mexico, San Salvador, Managua, Montevideo, Quito, San José, Tegucigalpa, Caracas, Santiago and Puerto Rico.
Mr. Saade is the first Ecuadorian violinist to perform at the Carnegie Hall in New York and has appeared in such prestigious halls as the Manuel M. Ponce at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in México City, the Beethoven House in Bonn, the “Franz Schubert Haus” and the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Italo-Latinamerican Institute in Rome, the Bolívar Hall in London [1], the International Diplomatic Academy and the UNESCO in Paris, the Marble Room at Bartok National Radio in Budapest, the Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas; the National Auditorium in San José, Costa Rica; the Rubén Darío National Theater in Managua; the "Manuel Bonilla" National Theater in Tegucigalpa; the Kennedy Center, and the Benjamin Franklin Room at the State Department in Washington DC. Mr. Saade performed at the Library of Congress` “Coolidge” Auditorium using the Library’s “Fritz Kreisler” Guarnerius violin and bow, becoming the only Ecuadorian to perform in this famous concert hall and one of the few violinists in the world to have the honor to play on this violin.
In 1993 Mr. Saade became the first Ecuadorian violinist to release a compact disc recording ”Recital” together with Canadian pianist, Adam Wegrzynek. His second compact disc, “Danza Ecuatoriana” together with Ecuadorian pianist Boris Cepeda[2] was recorded live at the Hanover World Expo 2000 in Germany
In 2002 together with renowned Ecuadorian guitarist Julio Almeida, Jorge Saade formed the “Duo Paganini”. About the “Duo Paganini” debut recital in Cologne, Germany on October 3, 2002, Daniel Reits, music critic for the “KOELNER STADT ANZEIGER” wrote: “...with the rich and varied program From Paganini to the Andes the artists captivated the audience......the duo impress the audience with a perfect ensemble and artistry.....”. The first compact disc of the Paganini Duo “From Paganini to the Andes” was released during their performance at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In 2005, the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra released their first compact disc recording entitled "Música Académica Ecuatoriana", recorded live at the Guayaquil Teatro Centro de Arte on June 30, 2004, featuring Mr. Saade as a guest soloist. The second recording with the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra under the direction of acclaimed conductor and composer Jose Serebrier was done live at the Guayaquil Teatro Centro de Arte on May 13, 2005, featuring Mr. Saade as a guest soloist with Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3. Most recently under the sponsorship of Mastercard-Pacificard of Ecuador he released “Tango, Danzon y Pasillo”, recorded live with the Pan-American Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Sergio Buslje in Washington DC.
Mr. Saade served as the Cultural and Press Attaché of the Ecuadorian Embassy and Cultural Representative of Ecuador to the Organization of American States in Washington DC from June 1997 to February 2003.
Currently Mr. Saade is the Dean and Founder of the Music School and Director of the Arts Program at the Guayaquil Catholic University, Professor Ad-Honorem of violin and viola at the National Conservatory of Music in Guayaquil, Ecuador, member of the Board of Directors of the Symphonic Foundation and Cultural Advisor of the Washington Symphony Orchestra and the Pan American Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC.
For the 2006-2007 season, Mr. Saade has been invited to perform with the Glacier Symphony Orchestra in Montana, USA, the El Salvador National Symphony Orchestra, the Montevideo Symphony Orchestra in Uruguay, the Bach Camerata from Nicaragua the Ecuadorian National Symphony Orchestra and to perform recitals in Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Poland and the United States.