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Harold Martina was born in Curaçao,
Netherlands Antilles. He began to study music
as a small child, first with the English teacher
Newburn Patrick, and later with the Dutch
pianist Teun Don. He furthered his training
with the Italian pianist Anna Maria Pennella
at the Fine Arts Institute of Medellin, Colombia,
where he graduated Cum Laude. He completed
his advanced studies in Europe with Professor
Richard Hauser at the Vienna Academy of Music,
and became the first student to graduate Summa
Cum Laude by unanimous vote from the Academy.
In conjunction with this distinction, he was
awarded a prize by the Austrian Ministry of
Culture.
In 1975, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
appointed him as a Knight in the Order of
Orange-Nassau for his outstanding contribution
to music. In 1990, the National Committee
of Honorary Membership of Sigma Alpha Iota,
an international fraternity of music, selected
Harold Martina as a National Arts Associate.
Mr.Martina has made several recordings: one
in Holland, three in Belgium, four in Colombia,
and two in the United States. He has been
referenced in books such as "Hundred
Years of Music Life in Curaçao", "Encyclopedia
of the Netherlands Antilles", "Cultural
Mosaic of the Netherlands Antilles", "Music
and Musicians of the Netherlands Antilles", "New
History of Colombia", "Popayán", "Changin
Curaçao", and "Holy Week
in Popayán". Harold Martina has performed as soloist in
the U.S. with the State Symphony Orchestra
of New Jersey, the Boston Symphony Players,
the East Texas State Orchestra, the Knox Galesburg
Symphony, the Butler University Symphony Orchestra,
and the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. He
toured with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
conducted by David Zinman. He has been soloist
with orchestras in Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto
Rico, Mexico, Ecuador and Curaçao.
Mr. Martina is the founder and conductor of
the Antioquia Chamber Orchestra, and has been
guest conductor of several chamber orchestras.
Harold Martina has accompanied world renowned
performers such as: violinists Eugene Fodor,
Daniel Heifetz, Henryk Szeryng, Erick Friedman,
and Ruggiero Ricci; cellists Christine Walevska,
Leonard Rose, Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier,
Andre Navarro, Antonio Janigro and Janos Starker;
sopranos Maria Stader and Sheila Armstrong;
flautist Gary Schocker, and bandoneonist Daniel
Binelli.
His concerto repertoire consists of over 50
compositions. In Bogotá, Colombia,
he performed an anthology of piano concerti
with works by 13 composers, ranging from Bach
to Shostakovich, in a period of two months.
He has also performed the cycle of all Beethoven
piano concerti on several occasions.
Harold Martina has performed in Europe, the
United States of America, Latin America, Israel
and Japan with extraordinary acclaim by both
audiences and critics. Mr.Martina has performed
at the Lincoln Center in New York, and at
the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
in Washington, D.C. In 1993, he ended a tour
in Belgium and Holland with a recital in the
Great Hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam
in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix
of the Netherlands. In 2001 College of Fine
Arts of the University of Antioquia in Colombia
named its music hall "Harold Martina
Auditorium". At present he is an Professor of Piano
at the School of Music of the Texas Christian
University in Fort Worth.
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