Jose Gregorio Nieto
Gregorio Nieto is a highly passionate cellist from Barquisimeto, Venezuela. He began his musical education at the age of five at the Jacinto Lara conservatory, where he learned discipline, sensitivity, and creativity. He discovered his love for the cello at the age of nine and has been playing it ever since. Gregorio has traveled to many countries throughout Latin America, Europe, and the United States as a member of various orchestras, including the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, the Simón Bolívar
Symphony Orchestra, and the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra. He won the position of first solo cellist in the latter through a competition when he was 22 years old. In 2008, he performed as a soloist in Italy and Greece, playing Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a
Rococo Theme".
In 2009, Gregorio was accepted into the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where he was one of five students in the exclusive class of renowned cellist Natalia Gutman. In
2011, he performed Tchaikovsky's "Pezzo Capriccioso" in Russia, sharing the stage with Gutman in a concert called "Gutman and her Students" at the Tchaikovsky Philharmonic Hall. Throughout his career, Gregorio has taken master classes with many renowned cellists, including Francesco Strano, Germán Marcano, Yvan Chiffoleau, Aldo Parisot,Miklós Perényi, Mario Brunello, David Finckel, Alyssa Weilerstein, Phillip Muller, RichardAaron, and Gary Hoffman.
In Venezuela, Gregorio studied under several cello teachers, including Valmore Freites, Javier Peraza, Katiuska Yustiz, Maricarmen Silva, Valmore Nieves, and Luis Jiménez.
His primary cello teacher in Venezuela was William Molina, a renowned cellist who first heard Gregorio play at the age of 15. Inspired by Molina, Gregorio moved to Caracas and studied at the Latin American Cello Academy for six years, where he also took classes in interpretation and chamber music from José Antonio Abreu, the founder of the national system of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela, whom Gregorio
considers his main musical mentor.
Gregorio has worked with many international conductors, including Eugene Kohn,
Giuseppe Sinopoli, Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, and Claudio Abbado, as an orchestra musician. As a soloist, he has performed under the direction of Irving
Hoffman, Evgeny Bushkov, Roberto Tibiriça, Angelo Pagliuca, Benjamin Sander, Diego Matheus, Christian Vázquez, and Gustavo Dudamel. He is deeply proud to be a part of the universal cultural treasure that is Latin American music.
In addition to frequently performing well-known works for cello by Bach, Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Saint Saens, and Dvorak, among others, Gregorio has also developed projects highlighting his instrument's Latin American repertoire. In October 2023, he debuted a new piece called "CAROLINA" a work for cello and piano that he dedicated to the legendary Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera. This piece was composed by the extraordinary Venezuelan composer Icli Zitella and premiered in New York at a private concert that Gregorio offered to the distinguished Venezuelan designer.
Gregorio and Carolina Herrera
Gregorio also has the privilege of studying the works of masters Arturo Márquez and Paquito D’Rivera directly with the composers. He has musical projects with them in his 2024/2025 schedule. Among the international honors he has received are an honorable mention in the Carlos Prieto Cello Competition in 2004, a diploma from the Royal School of Music of London in cello performance with distinction in 2012, first prize in the International Cello Competition held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2013, where he also won the award for best performance of the mandatory work composed specifically for the competition by composer David Ashbridge and an invitation to perform as a soloist with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic.
Gregorio and Paquito D'Rivera
In recent years, Gregorio has developed an active musical agenda in Mexico. During his residency in Mexico before moving to New York, he participated in important festivals such as the Santa Lucía Festival, the Revueltas Festival, and the February Festival,
among others. He was the principal cellist of the OFDC for three years and has been a guest soloist with multiple Mexican orchestras. He has also performed recitals with renowned Mexican pianist Jorge Viladoms. Since October 2023, Gregorio has been living between Mexico and New York. He has
performed in numerous recitals with Japanese pianist Riko Higuma, with whom he recorded his first album, "ESSENCE: Latino American Masterpieces for Cello and
Piano" in early 2024 in New York with the Spanish label ARIAclassics. This album was
produced by Argentine pianist and composer Emilio Solla and featured a special guest
appearance by master Paquito D’Rivera.