Felipe Celis Catalán was born in Santiago de Chile. As a soloist, Felipe has performed concerts and taught as a guest professor in some of the most prestigious concert venues in Chile, as well as in Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, Spain, Italy, Scotland, Czech Republic, Greece, England and Austria. Since autumn 2022, Felipe has been working as a professor of guitar at the Tiroler Landeskonservatorium in Austria.

 

Felipe is currently publishing his first and second soloist album, which are dedicated to Chilean music and music of the baroque and classical- romantic eras.

 

Felipe has attracted special recognition from well-known Chilean composers who have written various musical works especially for him, which he has subsequently premiered. These composers include: Horacio Salinas, Juan Antonio Sánchez, Javier Contreras, Lorenzo Cornejo, Eduardo Padilla and Mauro Godoy.

 

He has won first place at the International Competition Josep Ferrer in Girona, Spain, first place in chamber music at the International Competition All That Guitar, in Loutraki, Greece, first place at the Young Soloists Competition at the University of Chile, first place in the César Cortinas Contest in Uruguay, third place in guitar solo at the International Competition All That Guitar, and third place in the Villa de Aranda competition held in Spain.

 

Besides his career as a soloist, he plays with the Austrian cellist Maria Lydia Mayr, under the name of Duo Mayr-CelisCatalán, for which he arranges the pieces. In 2020 they recorded their first album called "Lioren".

 

Felipe was a member of the well-known Chilean music groups Barroco Andino and Ensamble de guitarras de Chile. He has also recorded for radio and television in Chile and abroad, including Los jóvenes también aman lo clásico. The title of this program translates to “young people also love classical music”. During this time, Felipe was chosen as one of the five most important young performers in the country.              
 

Felipe studied classical guitar and earned a Bachelor of Arts with highest distinction at the Universidad de Chile. Additionally, he earned a Bachelor of Education and Pedagogy at the Metropolitan University of Education Sciences in Chile, where he graduated and was awarded with unanimous distinction. In 2016, he completed his master’s degree at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, and, in 2018, he completed his postgraduate studies at the Mozarteum. His studies were made possible thanks to a scholarship awarded by the National Council of Culture and Arts of Chile.

 

Felipe has participated actively in a variety of courses and master classes in Chile and abroad with more than 30 guitarists, some of whom include: Eliot Fisk (USA), Marco Tamayo (Cuba), Luis Orlandini (Chile), José Antonio Escobar (Chile), Laura Young (Canada), Carlos Pérez (Chile), Juan Carlos Laguna (Mexico), Roman Viazovskiy (Ukraine), Augustin Wiedemann (Germany), Johann Fostier (Belgium), John Grifitts (Australia), Hopkinson Smith (USA) and Alvaro Pierri (Uruguay).

 

Felipe has carried out roles as a substitute professor for Maestro Luis Orlandini at the University of Chile and as a visiting professor at various Chilean and foreign universities. He was also a guitar teacher at the Musikum Salzburg, Austria.

 

Since 2012, his instruments have been made and sponsored by the renowned Luthier, Carlos López Menares. Felipe has also played a Walter Verreydt guitar since 2018, a Jan Tuláček Ries 8-string guitar and an original Anton Fischer Terz guitar.

 

Since 2019, Felipe has been the artistic director of the non-profit association "Rise with Arts - Art and Education for All". The aim of the association is to teach children who are exposed to a high social risk in various areas of the arts.

 

November 2021