Raul Gomez, a Sidney Blitzer violinist, is a versatile violinist and violist and an avid student of orchestral conducting and jazz performance. He is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at LSU and a recipient of a Huel D. Perkins Diversity Fellowship from the LSU Graduate School. He is the founder of LouisianaClassicalMusic.com and a member of the free-improvisation group Incense Merchants.

Mr. Gomez was born in Costa Rica and started playing the violin at age 9, under the instruction of Professor Jose A. Castillo, with whom he studied for 13 years. At age 16 he was the youngest member of the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra. During his undergraduate studies in Costa Rica, he held the position of concertmaster for the Costa Rican Youth Symphony Orchestra for 3 years, leading the ensemble through many performances in San Jose and on concert tours in Michigan, Washington D.C., Madrid and Amsterdam.

From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Gomez was selected as a Costa Rican representative for the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. During his time as a fellow, he traveled with this orchestra to Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, England, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay and several cities in the United States.

Mr. Gomez earned a Master of Music degree at LSU under eminent violin professor Kevork Mardirossian. He is now a student of Bergen Philharmonic’s concertmaster Espen Lilleslatten.  Raul has served as concertmaster for LSU Symphony on repeated occasions. From 2006 to 2008, he was a member of Louisiana Sinfonietta, Acadiana Symphony and Baton Rouge Symphony, where he held the position of Assistant Principal Viola (2007-2008). In 2008 Raul was one of the winners of the LSU School of Music Dean’s Concerto Competition.

Recent soloist appearances include performance with the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, the Costa Rican Youth Orchestra, Louisiana Sinfonietta and LSU Symphony.

Raul Gomez currently works as a violin instructor and faculty advisor for the After School Conservatory Program at Children’s Charter School in Baton Rouge. He also donates his time as a violinist and guest conductor for New Orleans’ Contemporary String Ensemble (CSE).

Raul is engaged to Jessica Orgeron from New Orleans, and looks forward to continuing to develop his career in Louisiana.