About this Artist

Elegant technique and great communication skills as conductor put the Venezuelan musician Dietrich Paredes in the vanguard of music in Latin American. As chief conductor of the Youth Orchestra of Caracas (YOC), Paredes has carried out valuable and fruitful work that has helped the orchestra improve and develop. Paredes led the YOC on its first international tours: in Norway, at the Bergen International Festival, as well as at many prestigious concert halls in Oslo; and in China and Korea, both in 2011. In February 2012, he was invited to guest conduct the Bergen Youth Orchestra in Oslo, and in April, the Central American Youth Orchestra in El Salvador. In May 2012, he led the YOC in Lisbon and Oporto, and after the success in Portugal, he led his orchestra again in Norway, conducting concerts in Oslo, Hokksund, Drammen, Moss, Hamar, and Lillehammer.

In the past, he served as guest conductor of the Carlos Chávez Orchestra in Mexico (2005) and of the Sodre Youth Orchestra in Montevideo, Uruguay (2009). He also served as music director of the Jóvenes Arcos de Venezuela orchestra during its successful 2004 tour of Argentina.

This young maestro started a successful career as violinist in 1989 under the guidance of Rubén Cova, Ulyses Ascanio, Santiago Garmendia, and José Francisco del Castillo. Paredes has also studied with renowned violinists such as Augustin Dumay, Olivier Charlier, Virginie Robilliard, Aaron Rosand, Maurice Hasson, Yossy Zivoni, Daniel Stabrawa, Eugene Fodor, and Igor Oistrakh, among others.

As a violin player, he won first prize at the Third International Competition for young violinists held in Argentina in 1991, and was a member of the first violin section of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and the Mercosur Youth Symphony Orchestra, with which he performed in Brazil. In 2002 he entered the Youth Orchestra of the Americas by competitive audition to play as concertmaster at its debut concert.