Dr Carlos Alvarado
BIO
Colombian born Australian Conductor, Carlos was appointed Musical Director of the Illawarra Choral Society in 2019.
Having won a full scholarship from the Colombian Institute of Credit to study in Russia , Carlos obtained his Doctorate of Opera and Symphonic Conducting at the Tchaikovsky Conservatorium of Music of Moscow where he studied under Gennady Rozhdestvensky, who commended both his musicianship and his commitment to high-quality performance. He also undertook higher studies in choral conducting , piano theory and voice technique, and was awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree in choir conducting from the same Conservatorium.
In 1990-92, he was invited by Professor Hellmuth Rilling and the International Bach Academy of Stuttgart to take part as an Active Conductor in various courses and festivals with the Bach Collegium Orchestra and the Gachinnger Kantoire Choir in Stuttgart (Germany), Moscow and Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
Carlos returned to Colombia after finishing his academic studies. During this time he was guest conductor of the main Colombian orchestras, conducted several groups, choirs and ensembles and taught conducting in most of the important universities in Bogota, Colombia. At that time he took part in various international competitions in Brazil, Russia, Spain and Italy.
Since his arrival to Australia in 2002, Carlos has been actively developing his musical career.
From 2003 till today, has been the Music Director of the Manly Warringah Choir.
In 2006 Carlos was Co-founder of the WIN Wollongong Symphony Orchestra, an orchestra chosen for accompanying the winners of the Sydney International Piano Competition.
In 2014 took part of “Cantat 7” an international Choral festival in Colombia, bringing the Sydney North Chamber Orchestra in a concert tour, accompanying Mozart’s C Minor Mass with the Santa Cecilia Choir from Bogotá with Soprano Emma Moore and soloists from Venezuela.
In 2014 received an award from the Colombian Embassy in Australia in recognition “of his invaluable efforts to promote Cultural Integration between Colombia and Australia”.
Many Important Australian and International figures as James Morrison, Timothy Kain, Konstantin Shamray, John Chen, Tatiana Kolosova, Alexandra Loukianova, Richard Butler, Deborah De Graaff, Emma Moore, Daniel Rojas, Gregory Kinda and many other soloists have been part of the programs conducted under Carlos Alvarado’s baton.