I was born in Bilbao, Spain, on September 28th 1965. I grew up in the northern Basque town of Bermeo. By the time I was eight I knew I wanted to become a musician. From the age of 9 or so I became obsessed with the violin. My mother, whose father and older brother had been professional musicians (her brother, who died long before I was born, was, by all accounts, a phenomenal violinist), knew exactly how hard it was to study music. Seeing that I was rather serious about it, she bought me a guitar, as a ploy to deter me from wanting to study the violin. So I taught myself to play the guitar (all wrong, of course) for a while. The violin won, however, and I began taking lessons by the time I was a bit over ten. Here began what could be called a normal classical music education. This education proceeded in tandem with another, in retrospect, equally important one, for which my older brother was responsible. From the time I began to learn the guitar I began to play with my brother. We used to make homemade recordings. The earliest ones were sort of musique concrete (read: hitting cardboard boxes and other objects). We eventually became more “advanced” and made pitiful versions of the theme from Tubular Bells, and other such classic pearls, thus creating a sort of blueprint for future “covers” of material written by other people, most of which (the covers) were merciless distortions of the originals. My brother went, eventually, to boarding school and university. Being a music enthusiast he always brought a stack of new LPs when he came home for his school breaks. His interest veered more in the direction of non-classical music, so the LPs were by bands no-one in our fishing town had ever heard of: King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant, the Incredible String Band, Henry Cow and many, many more.
Ricardo Odriozola, 2005
I was avidly eating up all that stuff while following a rigorous classical education. If I today have a very open mind where it concerns music I certainly owe it to my brother.
I eventually went to study to the United States, earning a bachelor degree from the Eastman School of Music, with the indomitable Zvi Zeitlin as my violin teacher. Right after finishing my studies there I came to Norway and began working as a violin instructor in Bergen at the Music Conservatoire, now called Grieg Academy, where I remain to this day.
I began writing music at the same time I began to learn the guitar. Writing my own compositions seemed (and continues to seem) to me a natural complement to playing an instrument and interpreting the music of others. What I consider as my proper “op. 1” dates from 1986. I am, nevertheless, primarily a performer. The stage is where I feel most at ease, and the preparation for a concert (both short term and long term) remains a treasured mystery and a joyful process for me. Teaching is also, by and large, a joyful activity, albeit one fraught with at least as much mystery and uncertainty as stepping onto a stage. With very few exceptions, it is nearly impossible to ascertain to what extent and in what way one is influencing the student.
In a world where specialization has become the rule, I remain incapable of buckling down to following any one single path. I need to perform, I need to write and I need to teach. And my musical appetites are also extremely varied. I have used considerable energy in my professional life in order to perform music by composers who are unjustly neglected. Although violin is the only instrument I am qualified to play, I have performed publicly on viola, piano, guitar (acoustic and electric), electric bass, voice and assorted percussion.
No man is an island, and I am no exception. I owe who and where I am to a large number of people I have encountered throughout my life. Besides my close family (my parents, sister and brother), who always have been supportive and encouraging in an unobtrusive way (a very rare achievement in families where unusual talent appears) and the many colleagues with whom I have, or have had the pleasure of working, I would like to mention the following:
José Antonio Eguía, my teacher of Harmony between 1977 and 1979. A great man and musician who enlivened the church services in my hometown with his organ playing. He taught me a lot about integrity and humility.
Demetrio Amigo, my violin teacher between 1976 and 1982. He threw me onto the stage at an early age and undertook my violin education with great enthusiasm and dedication. I owe him the fact that today I feel comfortable standing on a stage.
Francisco Comesaña, my additional violin teacher between 1980 and 1982. He made me aware of the necessity of proper craft in order to have a long life as a performer. And his generosity was nothing short of staggering.
Pasquale Tassone, the conductor of the high school orchestra in Arlington, Massachusetts, where I did my final year of high school as an exchange student in 1982-83. He is also an excellent composer. Unwavering in his support and encouragement he also has a truly endearing sense of humour.
Leslie Hurwitz, another teacher/friend dating from that same year in Arlington. A teacher, first and foremost, he is also an excellent pianist and composer. Like Tassone, he has written music especially for me. His more mercurial personality was, back in 1982-83 the perfect complement to Tassone’s earthier character.
Roman Totenberg, my violin teacher during my year in Massachusetts. An extremely friendly and caring man and a very fine artist, he was very supportive in this very important transition year.
Zvi Zeitlin, my violin teacher at the Eastman School of Music between 1983 and 1987. He taught me lots and lots about music and the violin. Above all, I learned from him the importance of articulating form and of being aware of the shape of every note. His standards were extremely high, something that also left a lasting imprint on my way of approaching music making in general.
Milan Vitek, with whom I studied in Copenhagen between 1991 and 1993. A very affable man with a thoroughly committed approach to teaching that has had a very powerful influence in my own teaching. The work he did with me was tremendously important in crystallising my craft as it is today.
Harald Sæverud. What this great man and composer taught me (without ever intending to do so) cannot be measured or put into words. He was a force of Nature. I learned more by listening to him sing his melodies and by seeing the way he reacted to music than in four years of college education. He passed a torch on to me which I am taking care to keep burning to the best of my ability.
Ketil Hvoslef, the youngest son of Harald Sæverud and, himself, a fantastic composer. His influence on my musical thinking continues to be very strong and his friendship and support have been very important to me through many years.
Mogens Christensen, another excellent and original composer and good friend. I had a very close professional association with him in the 1990s, when he taught at the Grieg Academy. I have premiered very many of his pieces and he has written a lot of wonderful music for me. I appear on several CDs with his music and have written the liner notes to most of them. He placed a lot of faith in me in my early years in Norway, introducing me to many significant people and opening many professional doors for me. Among many things I owe him my early experience as a recording artist.
Edvard Hagerup Bull, another musical volcano. A composer of staggering originality. My encounter with his music, in 1997, opened a new door for me after the passing of Harald Sæverud. He has, both as a composer and as a person, the same kind of uncompromising intensity as Sæverud. He has not had an easy time in his own country, unfortunately.
Einar Røttingen. I have had many joyful working and performing experiences with many colleagues. But, at the time of this writing (June 2005) I have known Einar, and have performed together with him for twenty years. Nothing can quite compare to the sort of empathy one develops over time with a close friend and musical collaborator. We feel very similarly about the music we perform. Very few words are needed when we work. And the importance of his lasting friendship cannot be overestimated.
Stephen Parker, my Alexander Technique teacher between 2001 and 2004. An “outsider”, like myself. The three years I spent working with him were immensely rewarding. Besides all the insights he gave me into the workings of my being, I derived enormous pleasure from the many conversations we had during our sessions. I owe him an awful lot. There are many things I can now do that would have been impossible without his help.
Besides these, there are two musicians who have exerted an enormous influence on me for the past 25+ years. I cannot claim to be a close acquaintance, although I have met them both. They are Robert Fripp and Peter Hammill. They are both living examples of uncompromising integrity. And the quality and scope of what they have released onto the world is monumental.
Lastly, but not least, I am deeply indebted to many of my students, some of whom have become dear friends. They have taught me a lot about being a human being. I offer them a big thank you. I will not mention names. They know who they are. The same applies to all my other wonderful friends.