Rafael Scarfullery

Rafael Scarfullery is an internationally recognized classical guitarist, composer, and conductor. He has won several awards for his cultural projects, compositions, and performances. His compositions are performed by internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles.

Listen to Rafael performing a fragment of Vivaldi's Guitar Concerto in D major. Movement 3.

Rafael teaches at Sweet Briar College, Randolph College and Lynchburg College in Virginia, USA. He has also taught at Shenandoah University, the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, and the Conservatorio Nacional de Música of Santo Domingo. He has organized six guitar festivals in the Dominican Republic, where he has invited renowned guitarists. He is also an organist, and has taught harmony, music appreciation, music analysis, and counterpoint. Being one of the most outstanding guitarists of the Dominican Republic, he has performed throughout his country, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Turkey, the U.S.A, Venezuela, and Canada. He has also been judge in guitar competitions. He has the honor of being the first Dominican guitarist who performed Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. Rafael also plays recitals with period instruments from the renaissance and romantic eras.

Listen to Rafael performing with a romantic guitar a fragment of Fernando Sor's Introduction and Funeral March.

Rafael is a member of several professional music organizations and foundations, such as: ASCAP, the Guitar Foundation of America, Chorus America, NACUSA (National Association of Composers of the USA), and the American Symphony Orchestra League. To share his Christian faith, he constantly performs sacred music guitar recitals in churches. Moreover, his church compositions cover all the church year. As a conductor he has led the Filarmónica del Cibao, the Shenandoah University Symphony Orchestra, and the Sinfónica Juvenil "Juan Pablo Duarte".

Listen to a fragment of "Der Freischutz Overture" by Weber, performed by the Shenandoah University Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Rafael.

Rafael began his musical studies at the Music Academy "Patria" in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic and later attended the Conservatorio Nacional de Música of Santo Domingo where he studied with Rafael Lagares and Luis Francisco Simï¿½. He has a Bachelor of Music degree in music performance from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, two Master of Music degrees (one in music performance and another in orchestral conducting) and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Shenandoah University. He graduated from both schools with the highest honors. He also studied for a year with Adam Holzman at the University of Texas at Austin, and has taken masterclasses with Alírio Díaz, Leo Brouwer, Nicholas Goluses, Aldo Rodríguez, Ricardo Cobo, and Benjamin Verdery, among other famous artists. Rafael has also studied composition with Tania León, and William Averitt, and orchestral and choral conducting with Jan Wagner, Robert Shafer, Jan Wnek, and Fernando Geraldes.

His awards (mostly from the Dominican Republic) include:

Winner of the Hymn Competition at First Parish of Arlington in Massachusetts (2007)

Jaycee's 72: "Outstanding Youth of the Year" (2005)

The president's National Youth's Award in the area of Cultural Development (2002)

Ateneo de San Pedro de Macorís (2002): For the organization of cultural projects in San Pedro de Macorís

Winner of the Supreme Court Hymn competition of the Dominican Republic (Listen to hymn here) (2001)

Top winner in the Bach-Handel Competition in Virginia (2001)

San Pedro de Macori's City council: Outstanding Citizen of San Pedro de Macorís (2000)

Nominations to El Casandra (2000, 1997)

Casa de la Cultura Petromacorisana (2000, 1997, 1996)

El Casandra: Best classical instrumental player of the year of the Dominican Republic, and first guitarist to ever win it (1998)

El Guloya (1997)

main/english