Rodolfo Epelde Cruz

Born in Eibar (Gipuzkoa), he trained at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, the “Hochshule für Musik” in Hamburg, and the “Conservatoire National de Région” in Versailles. Simultaneously, he completed his studies in Higher Telecommunications Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.He is currently an Assistant Professor of the Fundación “la Caixa” Horn Chair at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, with Professor Radovan Vlatković. He regularly gives master classes in higher conservatories both nationally and internationally (Manchester, Rotterdam, Berlin, Porto, Fiesole, Italian Brass Week), and is required to prepare and conduct the wind sections of the most important young orchestras: National Youth Orchestra of Spain (JONDE), Youth Orchestra of Euskal-Herria (EGO), Youth Orchestra of Andalusia, Youth Orchestra of the Region of Murcia, National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia (JONC), and the Youth Orchestra of the Community of Madrid (JORCAM), Tchaikovsky Youth Orchestra Ekaterinburg (Russia), etc.
His former students hold positions in various national orchestras (RTVE orchestras, Galicia, Santiago, Extremadura, Symphony Orchestra of Madrid, Navarra, Córdoba, Bilbao and Euskadi) and international orchestras (BBC Scottish, Scala of Milan, Innsbruck, Marseille, DSO Berlin, Kiel, Bielefeld, Zurich and Stuttgart).
As a soloist, he has performed with the National Orchestra of Spain, the “Ciutat de Barcelona” Orchestra, the Euskadi Orchestra, the “Reina Sofía” Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Community of Madrid, and JONDE.
In 2016, he was a member of the jury of the prestigious ARD International Horn Competition in Munich.
Since 2009, he has been the principal horn in the National Orchestra of Spain.