Luis Angel Salazar, violin
Mexican-American violinist Luis Angel Salazar has given tours nationally and internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. He joined the St. Petersburg String Quartet in April of 2014, and has toured with them throughout Europe, Canada and the United States. As a member of the quartet, he has performed in festivals and halls such as Toronto Concert Hall, Music Barge in New York, Christophori Piano Salon in Berlin, Zaubersee Russian Music Festival in Lucerne, Henschel String Quartet Festival in Germany, and many others. He has also performed with artists and groups such as Arianna String Quartet, Borealis String Quartet, James Dick, Oleg Poliansky, and Stefan Milenkovich.
Luis Salazar has received numerous awards and prizes from different institutions in Mexico and the United States. Awarded with the Chicago Opera Society Instrumental Award 2018, Luis is also a three-time 1st prize winner of the Wolff Bing Chamber Music Competition, St. Petersburg String Quartet Concerto Competition, Wichita State University Concerto-Aria Competition, Premio Municipal y Estatal de la Juventud (MEX), Orgullo Bajacaliforniano (MEX), Talentos de Baja California (MEX), and received 3rd prize at Arapahoe Concerto Competition.
Mr. Salazar has been a member of multiple ensembles in Mexico and the United States, including the Orquesta Juvenil e Infantil de Mexico (MEX), Suprima Chamber Orchestra, DePaul Symphony Orchestra, Wichita Grand Opera, and many others. He recently participated in the Academy Orchestra of the Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato, Mexico, where he gave multiple recitals as a soloist and with the festival’s ensemble.
As an educator, Mr. Salazar has taught many masterclasses and conducted youth orchestras in national and international tours. In his native town of Ensenada, Mexico, he has given masterclasses to students from different institutions such as Centro de Estudios Musicales, UABC (University of Baja California), Esperanza Azteca, and REDES. In the United States, as a member of the St. Petersburg String Quartet, he has had the opportunity to teach solfege, harmony, history and chamber music in the St. Petersburg String Quartet Summer Academy. In Canada, he has given masterclasses at the Glenn Gould Conservatory of Music.
In the city of Chicago, Luis founded “Cuerdas Mexicanas”, a free music program dedicated to Mexican families as an added program to Centro Autonomo, an institution dedicated to the support and well-being of the Mexican community in Chicago. Luis was a teaching artist at Kenwood Academy High School as part of the DePaul Music Community Division from 2016 to 2018.
Most recently, Luis won an interim position as principal second violin for the Great Falls Symphony and violin member of the Cascade String Quartet in Great Falls, Montana. Luis is also member of the Erie Philharmonic's first violin section.
Luis Salazar graduated with his Bachelor in Music Performance from Wichita State University, Master’s in Music Performance at DePaul University, and Performance Certificate from Cleveland State University.
