Rodrigo Riera
| Rodrigo Riera | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Born |
September 19, 1923 Near Carora, Lara, Venezuela
|
| Died | August 19, 1999 (aged 75) Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela |
| Genres | Classical music, Venezuelan popular music |
| Occupation(s) | musician, guitarist, composer |
| Instruments | Guitar |
Rodrigo Riera (19 September 1923 – 19 August 1999), was a Venezuelan guitarist and composer. He wrote a vital and important body of works for the guitar, inspired by and dedicated to the rich musical legacy of his region in the Lara state (Capital city: Barquisimeto) in Western Venezuela, displaying a loving nationalism that led him to be associated with the work of Antonio Lauro but with a technique that is more accessible to beginners and intermediate guitar players.
He was also an important educator of the classical guitar. Many guitarists active today studied with him in the 1980s and 1990s.
Lastly, he had an important career as a concert guitarist, but his recordings are relatively scarce and hard to find.
Rodrigo Riera was born in the township of Barrio Nuevo, in the city of Carora, in the state of Lara, in midwestern Venezuela.
His father, Juan Teodosio Querales, was a music teacher. He grew up with his mother, Paula Antonia Riera and his five older siblings. In addition to his music talent, Rodrigo inherited a congenital foot defect from his father. Despite this, he was able to have a normal childhood, even excelling in certain sports and physical activities.
Like many other Venezuelan musicians, his first instrument was the cuatro and his first teachers were his peers and his own will. His first public recital took place in Carora at age thirteen.
In 1937 he moved to Barquisimeto to look for better opportunities. In 1939, he was part of a guitar and vocal group called "Hermanos Riera" (founded by his brother Ruben). That year, he met fellow Carora guitarist Alirio Díaz, who wasn't planning to have a career in music at the time.
In 1941, he and his group travelled to Caracas for a series of radio presentations. During that trip, he met guitarists Antonio Lauro and Manuel Enrique Perez Díaz, both fellow students of Raúl Borges. Lauro was so impressed with Riera's playing, that he wrote a letter recommending him to his teacher. Life's circumstances made it difficult for Riera to start studies under Borges until 1945.
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