Daniel Zapico, theorbo

Daniel was born in Langreo, Asturias (Spain). From an early age, he focused his studies on the field of early music and began to specialise in the theorbo at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música in Langreo. He graduated from the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya with the highest grade, alongside fellow musician Xavier Díaz-Latorre. Later, he obtained a Master in Musicología, Educación Musical e Interpretación de la Música Antigua at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, receiving unanimous praise by the exam board for his project on Robert de Visée.

Au monde, his recent solo album with his own transcriptions for theorbo of French Baroque music, has completely conquered the critics of the public and the specialized press, obtaining the highest marks, such as the Diapason d'Or, ffff from Télérama and 5 stars in the Pizzicato, Melómano and Ritmo magazines, as well as nominations at the MIN Awards and at the ICMA Awards for Best Album in the categories of Soloist and Baroque instrumental, respectively.

As a founding member of Forma Antiqva, Daniel has performed in major festivals around the world with the now 20-year-old ensemble, which has been a big hit with both the public and media critics from the music industry. They were awarded Mejor Grupo de Música Barroca 2018 and Mejor Producción Discográfica 2018 by GEMA (Association of Spanish Early Music Groups) and recently received the prestigious award for Mejor Álbum de Música Clásica in the MIN Awards 2018 (Spanish Independent Music Awards) for their CD Concerto Zapico Vol. 2.

Daniel regularly collaborates with La Ritirata (Josetxu Obregón), winner of El Ojo Crítico de Música Clásica 2013 and the Premio de Cultura de la Comunidad de Madrid 2017; as well as the Belgian group Ricercar Consort (Philippe Pierlot), with which he has played in several of the biggest festivals in the world, such as the White Light Festival in the Lincoln Center in New York and La Folle Journée in Nantes (France), Ekaterimburgo (Russia) and Tokyo (Japan). His close collaboration with Nino Laisné has led him to feature in the artist's show Romances inciertos, un autre Orlando, participating in more than 100 performances over the last few years, most notably the Festival d’Avignon and the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris. From this fruitful relationship their new show Arca ostinata was born, a miniature opera for a single instrument: the theorbo, at the same time soloist and its accompanist, from which images emerge that evoke the phantasmagorias that have celebrated it over the years. Premiering in December 2021 in Annecy, Arca ostinata is touring in the most outstanding venues in France during its first season, such as the Center Pompidou in Paris or the Arsenal in Metz.

Daniel Zapico also plays alongside other important figures in the music industry such as Leonardo García Alarcón (Cappella Mediterranea), Benjamin Bayl (Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra), Attilio Cremonesi (Orquesta del Gran Teatro La Fenice), Andrea De Carlo (Ensemble Mare Nostrum), Maxim Emelyanychev (Il Pomo d’Oro), Riccardo Muti, Christina Pluhar (L’Arpeggiata), and Judith Steenbrink (Holland Baroque).

Daniel Zapico has been named Asturiano del Mes by La Nueva España newspaper and awarded the prize for Grupo del Año by TV channel Radiotelevisión del Principado de Asturias, the Premios de la Música en Asturias, the Premio Serondaya for Cultural Innovation and the Medalla de Oro in Foro Europeo Cum Laude.