Uruguayan born Gonzalo Acosta moved to England when he was five years old.  He studied at the Royal College of Music, London with Jaroslav Vanecek and also attended masterclasses with the Aeolian, Lasalle and Vermeer quartets.

At 21 he took up his first position as Principal Second Violin of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and after a couple of years as a freelance musician in London (mainly with the RPO, LPO, LSO and Philharmonia) he became Deputy Leader of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle.

A period of further study followed in 1989 with Zakhar Bron in Lubeck, Germany.  On returning to the UK Gonzalo guest led orchestras such as the LSO, Bournemouth SO and Sinfonietta, the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestra for the Royal Opera House, as well as L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Geneva. Recently, Gonzalo has led the London Concert Orchestra, the Orchestra of English National Ballet, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Real Filharmonica de Galicia, Spain, Welsh National Opera, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Since 1991 he has been Co-Leader of  the orchestra at English National Opera and after a period  2½ years as Acting Leader he is now Associate Leader.  As a soloist, 1995 saw his debut with Mozart’s Violin Concerto no 5 K219 with the English Sinfonia.  In 1994, Gonzalo gave the European Premiere of Uruguayan composer Jose Serebrier’s Solo Violin Sonata and was then invited to record this work by the composer.  In 2000 he made his Uruguayan debut playing Serebrier’s Winter Concerto and the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D.

Until 2002 Gonzalo was a Professor and Orchestral Tutor at the Royal College of Music Junior Department and has this year recommenced his association with them as Chamber Music Coach. Along with performing, Gonzalo has some private students and coaches regularly for youth orchestras (eg. Kent County Youth Orch. and Imperial College Orch.). Having adjudicated for the BBC Young Musician competition, Gonzalo has also been invited to adjudicate for competitions at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. Since 2008 Gonzalo has been Head of Strings at the Latymer Upper School.

Gonzalo is a member of the Dussek Piano Trio which performs at Music Societies and Festivals around the country as well as appearances at the Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room in London.  Recordings include the Arensky Trios and  a CD of William Hurlestone’s chamber music.

The violin played by Gonzalo this evening is by Andrea Guarneri dated 1674.