The Cuban-born guitarist was born on 8 August 1965 in Havana, where years later he received one of the Cuban government’s highest artistic awards, “La orden por la cultura nacional”. He studied guitar at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg with Eliot Fisk and early music with Anthony Spiri and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In 1991, he completed his studies in Salzburg with honours and received the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research’s award for special artistic achievements.
Joaquín Clerch has won major guitar competitions, including the Andres Segovia in Granada, Heitor Villalobos in Rio de Janeiro, Printemps de la Guitare in Charleroi / Brussels and the ARD competition in Munich. He has performed as a soloist all over the world and has been Professor of Guitar at the Robert Schumann Academy of Music in Düsseldorf since 1999. His compositions for guitar are published by Schott Music Group under the Edition Chanterelle label and can also be heard on the Naxos label. He has received awards for his recordings, such as the Echo Prize and the Cuba Disco.
