Teachers
José María Ortí Soriano
Born in Torrent (Valencia), José María Ortí Soriano began his musical studies at the age of 8. He entered the Valencia Higher Conservatory of Music to begin studying the trumpet. Later, he moved to Madrid to pursue advanced studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music, where he achieved an outstanding academic record, graduating with the highest marks and awarded the Extraordinary Final Prize of Honour through competitive examination. At the same time, he took private lessons with Vicente Lillo, who showed a special interest in his development.
He then travelled to Paris to further his training with Maurice André and Pierre Thibaud, performing as a soloist in the Organ Hall of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique. Following this, he attended numerous international trumpet courses, including with the American trumpeter James Stamp.
He served as Principal Trumpet of the National Orchestra of Spain for more than forty years and held the post of Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, and later at the “Joaquín Rodrigo” Higher Conservatory of Music in Valencia.
He has been awarded the Gold Medal of Fine Arts and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Civil Merit, granted by H.M. King Juan Carlos I. He was named “Illustrious Figure of Valencian Music” by the Valencian Music Academy and declared Favourite Son of the city of Torrent, where a street has been named in his honour and where he was also awarded the Gold Medal. At the request of the City Council, he composed the Hymn of Torrent.
Manuel Blanco Gómez Limón
Born in 1985 in Daimiel (Ciudad Real), Manuel Blanco began studying the trumpet at an early age with Martín Baeza-Rubio and José María Ortí Soriano. He is currently also mentored by international soloist Reinhold Friedrich, with all three masters having shown a special interest in both his artistic and personal development.
He has won several competitions, including Ciudad de Xàtiva, Calvià, Mogente, and Jeju (South Korea). However, his major international breakthrough came in 2011 when he won First Prize at the prestigious ARD Music Competition in Munich, achieving the highest score in the history of the event. This prize had only been awarded to two other trumpet players in the previous 62 editions, the first being Maurice André in 1963 — with many now considering Blanco to be his rightful heir.
Since 2006, he has held the position of Principal Trumpet of the National Orchestra of Spain.
As a soloist, he has performed with world-class orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam), Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig), Radio France Philharmonic, Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester, European Union Youth Orchestra, Berlin Staatsoper, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Orchestra Mozart Bologna, La Scala Theatre Orchestra (Milan), and Santa Cecilia Orchestra (Rome), among others. He has worked under the baton of distinguished conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Mariss Jansons, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, Yuri Temirkanov, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, Josep Pons, Juanjo Mena, David Afkham, Pablo Heras-Casado, George Pehlivanian, Markus Bosch, Antonio Méndez, Andrés Salado, Martín Baeza-Rubio, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, and many others.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Munich Radio Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Chamber Orchestra, Jeju Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata XXI, Philharmonic Orchestra of Würzburg (Mozartfest), Capella Symphony Orchestra (St. Petersburg), Hofer Symphoniker, Niederrheinische Sinfoniker, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, Spanish National Orchestra, Navarra Symphony Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, and Valencia Municipal Orchestra, among others.
José Antonio García Sevilla
He has been a member of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE) and the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester (GMJO), whose artistic director was Claudio Abbado. With these ensembles, he toured extensively across Europe under the baton of prestigious conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, and Carlo Maria Giulini.
His most recent collaborations include performances with the Spanish National Orchestra, City of Granada Orchestra, City of Palma Orchestra, Berlin State Opera (conducted by Daniel Barenboim), Madrid Municipal Band, Albacete Municipal Band, Symphony Orchestra of Vallès, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Cadaqués Orchestra, and the Valencian Community Orchestra, under the direction of Lorin Maazel.
He is currently Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid and Director of the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts at Alfonso X el Sabio University.
José Manuel Escobar Belmonte
He completed his studies at the “Joaquín Rodrigo” Higher Conservatory of Music in Valencia under the guidance of Maestro José María Ortí, graduating with honours. He furthered his training at the Brass Academy Alicante with Maestro Rudi Korp.
He has collaborated on numerous occasions with ensembles such as the Symphony Orchestra of Vallès, Murcia Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra of Madrid, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra of Moscow, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Spanish National Orchestra, Freixenet Orchestra of the Reina Sofía School of Music, and the Palau de les Arts Orchestra, among others.
He has been a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Region of Murcia, the Youth Orchestra of the Valencian Government, the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE), and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.
He is currently a professor at the Castilla-La Mancha Higher Conservatory of Music, assistant professor at the Brass Academy Alicante, and teaches at Alfonso X el Sabio University. He is also a member of the ADDA Symphony Orchestra.
Edgar Zaragoza
He began his musical studies in his hometown. He trained under two internationally renowned figures in the trumpet world: José María Ortí Soriano — former principal trumpet of the Spanish National Orchestra and Professor of Trumpet — to whom he has dedicated much of his research throughout his career, and Manuel Blanco, principal trumpet of the Spanish National Orchestra with an outstanding international career.
He has furthered his education through courses and masterclasses with distinguished international artists and teachers including Reinhold Friedrich, Jonathan Müller, Eric Aubier, Rex Richardson, G. Cassone, Otto Sauter, Paco Segura, Mary Elisabeth Bowden, among others.
He has performed under the baton of conductors such as David Afkham, Juanjo Mena, Yuri Nashushkin, Luis Cobos, Nacho de Paz, José Rafael Pascual Vilaplana, Jordi Francés, Beatriz Fernández Aucejo, and Saúl Gómez.
He has collaborated with leading ensembles including the Spanish National Orchestra and Choir (OCNE), the Orchestra and Choir of the Community of Madrid (ORCAM), the Algeciras Symphony Orchestra, the European Symphony Orchestra, the Strauss European Orchestra, the Verum Symphony Orchestra, and numerous national and international symphonic and chamber ensembles.
He has participated in radio and television recordings, as well as musical productions for events and audiovisual media.
Between 2014 and 2018, he was a member of the Youth Symphonic Band of the Federation of Music Societies of the Valencian Community, taking part in numerous artistic projects and recording four albums.
In 2018, he was awarded First Prize in the Fundación Ciudad de Requena Competition and received a scholarship to pursue the Master’s Degree in Musical Performance and Performative Research at Alfonso X el Sabio University (Madrid).
He currently serves as Professor of Trumpet at the Higher Conservatory of Music of A Coruña, Director of the International Trumpet Festival “Ciutat de Xixona”, and organiser of the “José María Ortí Soriano” International Trumpet Competition and the “Fundación Ciudad de Requena Chair” Competition.
Jason bergman
American trumpeter Jason Bergman has performed throughout the United States, South America, Europe, and China. In 2008, he was appointed Associate Principal Trumpet of the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra in Chile and, more recently, has served as Principal Trumpet of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and Mobile Opera. He has also performed with the Utah Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Dallas Opera, and Fort Worth Symphony, as well as with Dallas Winds on their Grammy-nominated album featuring music by John Williams. He has released three solo albums available on the MSR Classics label. He served as President of the International Trumpet Guild from 2021 to 2023. He has presented and performed at the Midwest Clinic, the TMEA Annual Convention, the International Trumpet Guild, the College Music Society, and other similar conferences. In 2022, he joined the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University as Professor of Trumpet, having previously held the same position at the University of North Texas and the University of Southern Mississippi. Bergman is a Yamaha artist and performs exclusively on Yamaha trumpets.
Carla Gómez Pertusa
She completed her Higher Degree in Music, specializing in Piano Performance, at the Óscar Esplá Superior Conservatory of Music in Alicante, under professor Mª Dolores Costa, and spent a year studying in Italy with pianists Paola Bruni and Gabriella Bassi.
She furthered her studies with an Official Master’s Degree in Artistic Education in Music Performance and Research, including a course at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw with pianist Elżbieta Karaś-Krasztel. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Music Pedagogy from the International University of La Rioja.
She has performed in the main concert halls of Alicante and its surrounding area, both as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles. She has also given concerts in Valencia, Madrid, Murcia, Seville, Bari (Italy), Ghent (Belgium), and Warsaw (Poland), where she performed at the National Philharmonic.
She has attended masterclasses and advanced training courses with renowned pianists such as Guillermo González, Judith Jáuregui, Constantín Sandú, Bálazs Fülei, Ángel Sanzo, Juan Pérez Floristán, Mamiko Suda, and Mariana Gurkova. She has also received chamber music masterclasses from Robert Morawski, Franck-Immo Zichner, Aleksandra Swigut, Othmar Müller, and Rudolf Leopold.
She is a piano teacher at the José Pérez Barceló Professional Conservatory of Music in Benidorm. She has worked as a répétiteur pianist at the Joaquín Rodrigo Superior Conservatory of Music in Valencia and at the Óscar Esplá Superior Conservatory in Alicante. She combines her teaching work with an active and intensive musical career.