About
Rafael Gintoli was born in Buenos Aires and studied under Emilio Pelaia, Humberto Carfi and Szymsia Bajour. In 1968 he won the City of Buenos Aires´ Municipal Prize, in 1972 received a scholarship awarded jointly by the “Mozarteum Argentino” and the Dutch Ministry of Science, Culture and Education to pursue higher studies in The Hague, Holland. From the age of 16 he performed as a soloist with the most renowned orchestras in Argentina, South America and Europe. Amongst them are the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Camerata Bariloche (Argentina), Sao Paulo Symphony (Brazil), La Paz Symphony (Bolivia), Simón Bolívar Symphony (Venezuela), Mexico State Orchestra, the resident orchestras at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and Teatro La Fenice in Venice (Italy), Thessaloniki State Symphony (Greece), Hamburg’s Das Neue Werk Ensemble, Bremen Philharmonic (Germany), The Zürich Symphony, the Tonhalle Orchestra (Switzerland), the Kraków Radio and TV Orchestra (Poland), the Irish National Symphony (in Dublin), the Reykjavik National Symphony Orchestra (Iceland), Moscow Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Kaohsiung Symphony (Taiwan).
Rafael Gintoli has attended and performed in many celebrated Festivals in Italy, such as Fermo, Pisa, Lecce, Udine and Salerno. Eminent Argentine pianist Martha Argerich has often invited him to accompany her in performance during the Argerich Festival held at Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires and in 2018 at National CCK Center in Buenos Aires and Auditorio Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. During 2005 he was again invited to join the Mozart Festwochen in Lucerne (Switzerland) and at the Alberto Ginastera Festival held at St. James’ Church in Piccadilly, London.
He has toured widely as a soloist or with the Buenos Aires Trio, playing chamber music. In the US, he has performed at the Kennedy Center (Washington), in Los Angeles, in New York and in New Orleans. In Europe, he has played in Antwerp, Sofia, Kiev, Paris, Milan and Rome. He was appointed leader and first violin at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Haydn Orchestra in Bolzano, the Sinfonietta belonging to the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and the Rome Sinfonietta and leader and soloist at the National Orchestra of Argentine Music “Juan de Dios Filiberto”.
Within his teaching activities, he has held Master Classes at the Trento Philharmonic Association, the Young Performers’ Association of Rome, Bilbao’s International Festival (Spain), in Lucerne and in Slovenia.
He has recorded for RAI (Italian Radio and TV), Radio Bern, Radio Maastricht (Holland), TV Globo (Brazil) and for the Islandic National Broadcasting System. Together with pianist Aldo Antognazzi he recorded works for violin and piano by Mozart and Clementi for the label Cascade. During 1998 he recorded Alicia Terzian’s Violin Concerto with the Zürich Symphony Orchestra for the label D.O.M. In 2000, London’s ASV label recorded Gintoli in Piazzolla’s “Histoire du Tango” with guitarist Maria Isabel Siewers. This CD has worldwide distribution throughout Europe, the US and Japan.
During his career he has been distinguished with the Critics’ Association Award for the Best Argentine Performer (1999) and he also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Argentine Academy of Music.
In 2000 Rafael Gintoli won the “Estirpe” Prize for classical music. In 2002 the Critics’ Association selected him again, this time for Best Chamber Music Performer and in 2003, with pianist Paula Peluso he received the award for Best Argentine Chamber Ensemble. In 2007 he was the recipient of the Outstanding Personality Award in the Arts, bestowed by the Office of the Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires.
In 2008 he performed with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, the Bari Symphony in Italy and at Mexico’s Morelia Festival. He also held an intensive workshop at Keshet Eilon in Israel invited by Maestro Shlomo Mintz.
Rafael Gintoli participated as Artistic Director and member of the Jury of the Buenos Aires International Violin Competition 2010 and 2012, President of the Jury at the 2010 International Violin Competition “Luis Sigall” in Chile and member of the Jury at “Lipizer” International Violin Competition in Italy, and at HKIVS Shlomo Mintz International Violin Competition and professor at Masterclass Campus of Beijing Central Conservatory in China as well at the First Latinamerican Violin Competition in Tucumán and as President of the Jury at International “Postacchini” Competition in Fermo, Italy 2023. He was invited to perform in Festival Cervantino (Mexico), accompanied by Kaoshiung Sinfonica in Taiwan, Russian Philharmonic in Bilbao, Spain.
In 2021 developed a Mastercourse of Tango for violinists for the digital platform iClassical Academy.
In 2009 he founded the chamber ensemble "Estación Buenos Aires" with which he has toured throughout the country and recently completed the recording and world premiere in 2022 of the two "Modern String Quartets" by the Oscar-winning composer, Lalo Schifrin, and dedicated to the ensemble.
