Raul Gomez is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at LSU under the guidance of Professors Carlos Riazuelo (Orchestral Conducting), Espen Lilleslatten (Violin Performance) and Willis Delony (Applied Jazz). A versatile musician, Raul combines his studies of orchestral conducting and jazz performance with an active career as a violinist and violist in a variety of musical genres and styles. He is the recipient of a Huel D. Perkins Diversity Fellowship from the LSU Graduate School and holds the distinction of being a Sidney M. Blitzer Violinist. He is the founder of LouisianaClassicalMusic.com, the Chair of Cultural Affairs for the Latin American Student Association at LSU, and a member of the free-improvisation group Incense Merchants and the trio BossaRica.
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.
After private studies with virtuoso violinist Dylana Jenson in Michigan, Mr. Gomez earned a Master of Music degree at LSU under eminent violin professor Kevork Mardirossian. 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 performances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, the Costa Rican Youth Orchestra, Louisiana Sinfonietta and LSU Symphony. Raul has also studied with jazz violinist Christian Howes in his annual Creative Strings Workshop.
Starting in 2008, Raul has served as the Principal Guest Conductor for the Contemporary String Ensemble in New Orleans. He keeps a calendar of upcoming performances and a blog at www.RGomezMusic.com.