roberto riggio
Violin, Oud, Harmonium

Roberto was born into a musical family in Monterrey, Mexico, the son of photographer and matador Roberto Ortiz,and spent his childhood in Mexico City and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. He began studying Western classical music at the age of six with his grandfather James L. Riggio and later Latin American folk music with his mother, Paulette, and aunts, the Four Ettes. As a teenager he joined the professional Valley Symphony Orchestra and South Texas Chamber Orchestra as one of its youngest members while also playing professionally in a Mexican mariachi group. As a student at the University of Texas at Austin, Roberto began to explore the music of India and the Middle East, working with teachers Stephen and Anita Slawek, Anne Rasmussen, and Abraham Marcus. He would eventually travel to immerse himself in the study of Hindustani and Arabic classical music with masters Pandit Ram Narayan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Simon Shaheen and Binay Pathak. He has also studied film at the New York Film Academy, conducting in Europe and has been concertmaster and soloist for the Orchestra da camera of Orvieto Musica in Orvieto, Italy. Roberto is known for his "oriental" touch on the violin, earning him a place on the national tours of legendary Arab artists Fairouz and Kazem Al-Saher. Most recently, Roberto toured as a member of Fathy Salama’s Cairo Egyptian Orchestra with Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour on the North American tour for the Grammy-winning album Egypt, premiering at Carnegie Hall. His range as an artist is not limited to oriental music, and he has worked with many singer-songwriters from Texas, including Alejandro Escovedo and Tucker Livingston, as well as session work and guest appearances with artists around the world. He is active as a composer and educator, and directs Ars Mundi and the East Austin Youth Orchestra, and is a founding member of the Indo-Persian trio Ashk. In tribute to his late stepfather, Dr. Carlos Saca, Roberto has begun investigating the healing properties of music.

Visit Roberto's site – http://www.robertoriggio.com