His name is Pablo Araya Betancort, he has been playing the violin since he was eight years old, and at the age of 20 he has just obtained the "only place" to enter the Vienna Conservatory in the chair of the renowned violinist and pedagogue Dominika Falger among "more than twenty applicants from different parts of the planet" such as Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Germany and Poland. This native of Arrecife is looking for a "scholarship or a sponsor to cover the costs of his instrument as well as those of living in a city like Vienna".
"I started playing the violin at the age of eight, although with music since I was about five. I entered the conservatory here and then at 18 I went to Tenerife and entered the Higher Conservatory of Music of the Canary Islands with Professor Branimir Hristov", says this young man, who this year moved to Vienna on an Erasmus program, where he has now obtained a place to stay and study. "There was only one place offered and it was difficult, but in the end I got it and I'm very happy", he says.
For Pablo Araya, being in Vienna is very important. "Because Vienna itself is music, Bethoven, Strauss, everything is music here and the Conservatory itself has a level, it is in the world's top. And here I am with Dominika, who has won competitions and has a totally enviable curriculum, so I am very happy to be her disciple".
"Just violin strings cost 90 or 100 euros"
However, this native of Arrecife points out that "the world of art in general is quite expensive". "The instrument, maintaining it, the strings, the revisions, the scores, the books, everything is expenses. Then you have to change the instrument because you need a better one and there comes a time when there are a lot of expenses", he details. Therefore, and because "Vienna is also a very expensive city", Pablo wants to get a scholarship or a sponsor to cover the costs.
And, this native of Arrecife now receives money from the Erasmus scholarship, but he says that what he receives practically only gives "to cope with the costs of a city like Vienna". "But to maintain the instrument, the material, it doesn't even come close. Just violin strings cost 90 or 100 euros", he says. In addition, the money is only granted during seven of the 10 months that the Erasmus lasts, so soon he will be without this part of the income and, although "luckily" he points out that he always has help from his family, he insists that the expenses of living in Vienna and those he must face to develop his skills as an artist are "numerous".
In this sense, Pablo points out that he has "always" worked to pay for the expenses of his instrument, but now he considers "fundamental" the search for help to be able to "concentrate to the maximum" on his studies and obtain "a greater performance", because he points out that the level of demand is increasing.
"In Tenerife I played in orchestras, I knew people and gigs came up and I was playing and earning my money. And to buy my instrument I was playing in the street and with that I was able to save something. What happens? That now I don't have income in that sense and I don't want to start looking for a job here in Vienna, because I think that what I have to do is study and if I start playing around I'm not going to get the most out of my studies", says Pablo, who explains that "music requires many hours of study". "At least five a day to eight or nine or even more, although that's already going crazy", he says.
Few scholarships in Spain and "a lot of competition"
In this sense, this young man from Lanzarote complains about the few scholarships that there are in Spain, and especially in the Canary Islands. "In Europe there are many associations and foundations and aid and scholarships for outstanding students, but in Spain there are not many, and in Lanzarote, in particular, there are none because the Conservatory is not regulated in professional education. Therefore, the level that there is is not known and there are no excellence awards for example, which in Tenerife there are, which is the most you aspire to as a musician in the Canary Islands as a scholarship, as an award. And at the national level there are scholarships, but few, not like in Europe, and there is a lot of competition", he concludes.
An extensive curriculum with only 20 years
Pablo Araya began his musical studies at the age of five and at the age of eight he began his violin studies at the Music School of the Cabildo de Lanzarote with José Manuel Hernández Alfaro, acting during this first stage "as a soloist of the orchestra of said center on several occasions".
In 2015 he entered the Higher Conservatory of Music of the Canary Islands under the tutelage of Branimir Hristov, being in this course 2017/2018 an exchange student within the Erasmus program at the Conservatory of the city of Vienna, in which, after having successfully auditioned in February 2018, he will continue his studies in the chair of the internationally recognized violinist and pedagogue Dominika Falger.
Pablo Araya is a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Canary Islands (JOCAN), as well as the Orchestra of the JMJ Madrid and the MUK Symphony Orchestra. He has also been part, according to him, of the orchestras 'Sinfonietta de Canaria's (as concertino) and 'Ópera de Canarias', performing in concert halls such as the Teatro Guimerá (Tenerife), the Teatro Leal de La Laguna, the Paraninfo de la ULL (Tenerife), Ael uditorio Afredo Kraus (Gran Canaria), the Auditorio Principe Felipe (Oviedo), the Kursaal of San Sebastián, the Auditorium of the University of Navarra (Pamplona) and the Radiokulturhaus of the Austrian National Radio (Vienna) among others.
In addition, this young man from Lanzarote has collaborated with various festivals in the Canary Islands, such as the Canary Islands Zarzuela Festival, the Canary Islands Music Festival, the Canary Islands Film Music Festival (FIMUCITÉ), as well as the Canary Islands Religious Music Festival as a member of Ensemble Canarias Galante, formed by Sergio Oramas, Mark Peters, Satomi Morimoto and Pablo Araya.
He highlights that he has received classes from professors "of great prestige"
Throughout his artistic career, he points out that he has received classes from professors "of great prestige", among which he highlights Sergey Teslya (Reina Sofía Higher School of Music), Lara Lev (Julliard School of Music and Drama of New York), Dominika Falger (Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien), Mario Hossen (New Bulgarian University of Sofia), Michael Frischenshlager (University of Music and Performing Arts of Vienna), Raluca Dobre (George Enescu Music University of Bucarest), Macarena Pesutic, Rainer Hornek and Wladislaw Winokurov .
In the orchestral field, he highlights that he has worked with Amayak Dourgarian, Yuri Nasushkin, Lluis Vila Casañas, Gregorio Gutierrez, Hugo Carrio, Juan Mira, José Maria Vicente, Harmut Pascher, Timuraz Jianikasvili, Víctor Pablo Pérez, Anne-Marie North, Borja Quintas and Andreas Stoehr.