Germán Marcano, Venezuelan cellists with one of the most versatile career in Latin American scene. Well known as a classical musician, Marcano has embarked a number of different projects on teaching, researching and even performing Venezuelan popular music, creating a very diverse and distinctive musical career. At age 17 he received by unanimous decision of the jury, the “Best Young Musician of the year Award” granted by the Reading Symphony Orchestra, England, and was subsequently invited as a soloist with ensembles such as the Reading Symphony Orchestra, Surrey University Symphony Orchestra, Guildford Camerata and the Surrey Philharmonia. His training started in Venezuela and continued in England and the US with Stefan Popov, William Pleeth and Uri Vardi, along attending courses and masterclasses with Franz Helmerson, Mstislav Rostropovich, Raquel Adonaylo, Lynn Harrel and Janos Starker.
His performances have received excellent reviews from audiences in England, The US and Latin America. In Venezuela Marcano performed frequently as soloist with the main orchestras in the country, including the Simon Bolivar Symphony, Orquesta Municipal de Caracas, Filarmónica Nacional and Sinfónica de Venezuela, and in Latin America with the Sinfónica de Puerto Rico, Orquesta Juvenil de Guayaquil, Sinfónica de Cuenca (Ecuador) under the baton of George Hurst, Andrew Parrot, Jonathan Brett, Frederic Chaslin, Carl St. Clair, Pedro Ignacio Calderon, Carlos Riazuelo, Alfredo Rugeles, Pablo Castellanos, Rodolfo Saglimbeni, Luis Miguel Gonzalez, Inocente Carreño, Juan Carlos Nunez, Cesar Ivan Lara, Joshua Dos Santos, Eduardo Rahn, Raphael Jimenez, Sung Kwak, David Machado, Gregory Carreño, Medardo Caisabanda and Patricio Jaramillo. As a recitalist and chamber player, Marcano has performed recitals with artists such as Allisa Margulis, Dmitry Berlinski, Chee-Yun, Judit Jaimes, Elena Abend, Clara Marcano, Carlos Urbaneja, Monique Duphil, Jihye Chang, Andrés Torres, Jorge Montilla, Luis Rossy, Antonio Saiote, Marcio Carneiro, Richard Young, Simon Gollo, and the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, among others.
An enthusiastic performer of concert Latin American music, Marcano has given local and world premieres of important cello woks by many renown composers such as Modesta Bor, J.B. Plaza, Inocente Carreno and Ricardo Lorenz among others. In 2008 he premiered the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by Carlos Vázques with the Puerto Rican Symphony, piece composed specially for Marcano.
Marcano was principal cello with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra between 1985 and 1997, performing in numerous tours and recordings with them, under conductors such as Eduardo Mata, Zubin Mehta and Seigi Ozawa. Other posts as principal cello includes “La Camerata Criolla” (a chamber orchestra devoted to the performance of Venezuelan music), the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Palm Beach Symphony, South Florida Symphony and the Orquesta Municipal de Caracas.
Marcano was founder of the Rios Reyna String Quartet, one of the most important chamber groups in Latin America, with eleven years of professional career worldwide, and 2 commercial recordings, one of them devoted to Latin-American works. During that time the Rios Reyna concertized extensively in Europe, Latin and North America, counting among their guests Monique Duphil, Frank Fernandez, Michelle Lethiec and other important Venezuelan musicians. For their 10th anniversary the Rios Reyna Quartet performed in Caracas the 2 Brahms sextets together with members of the legendary Amadeus String Quartet.
As a teacher Marcano held an important posts at the Simón Bolívar Conservatory (El Sistema), the Emil Friedman School, the Simón Bolívar University, and the Mozarteum Center’s Music School, teaching cello and chamber music. He has been guest performer, professor and lecturer in Grand Valley State University and Andrews University in Michigan, the San Diego Youth Orchestra, the University of Iowa, Louisiana State University, Lawrence University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Universidad Nacional del Peru and has performed in various occasions with faculty of Florida International University. Marcano has regular appeareances in summer courses and Festivals in Latin America such as the Curso Duo Aldo Parisot, Aruba Symphony Festival, Festival Nuevo Mundo, Quito Cellos, Academia de Verano Mozarteun Venezuela, among others. In 2021 Marcano has been chosen to be part of the cello course organized by the Fundación MpMusic in Spain.

From 2005 to 2007 Marcano was artistic director of the Chamber Orchestra of the Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas-Venezuela. Since then he appears ocasionally conducting the Simon Bolivar Symphony, Filarmonica Nacional. Sinfonica de Yaracuy, Sinfonica Juvenil de Merida and Centro Mozarteum in Venezuela, and the Madison Cello Institute (Wisconsin), Kameristika Chamber Orchestra and VUM (Miami-Florida).
In recent years Marcano has embarked into the pioneer project of performing Venezuelan folk music on the cello, accompanied by folk instruments. In this venture he has been accompanied by distinguished Venezuelan musicians such as Jorge Glem (cuatro), Gonzalo Teppa and David Peña (double bass) and Manuel Rangel (maracas). The success of this idea has taken the ensemble to many stages in Venezuela, the Caribbean and the US, and a couple of commercial recordings.

Among his publications we can count “A catalog of Latin American works for cello” (2004), an edition of the Suite for cello and piano by Venezuelan composer Modesta Bor 2006), and the cello works of Juan Bautista Plaza (2015). Three commercial recordings complete his profile as a cellist: one including works by “Schumann, Beethoven, Debussy” (2005), and two others devoted to folk Venezuelan music: “Rochela” (2011) and “Aquí y allá” (2018). Recently, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization, CelloBello and the Venezuelan cellist Horacio Contreras, the catalog was released online as the “Sphinx catalog of Latin American cello works”, becoming one of the most important publications on this genre, recommended by cellists and composers around the world.
(2018).

Marcano has also given specialized lectures and presentations on violonchelo y la música latinoamericana en universidades de Estados cello and Latin American music related issues in Universities in the US, Venezuela, Ecuador and Chile.  Between 2001 and 2015 Marcano was one of the producers of the project “Navidad en familia con los Marcano” a Venezuelan family Christmas show that intended, through the interpretation of traditional songs, the rescue of traditions and family values. This musical show was one of the most popular options for Venezuelan audiences during Christmas time for many years. The ensamble, made up by approximately 35 members of the same family, concertized in various Venezuelan cities, made 3 CD recordings that are considered iconic of the Venezuelan Christmas spirit.
venezolano.

German Marcano holds a BMus degree from the University of Surrey, England, the Premier Prix diploma from the Guildhall School of Music in London, and Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He currently lives in Florida where he teaches at Kalos Music and Art School, Vivace Music Academy and plays regularly cello solo and chamber music with The Music in Miami series, and also with the Florida Grand Opera and Palm Beach Symphony, Atlantic Classical Orchestra and South Florida Symphony Orchestras.