Work & Activities

Carlos studied violin under Roger Huckle and Kathryn Hardman, piano under Christopher Northam and conducting under Jonathan James. Having started the violin at age 6 and the piano at age 8, he has since had a wide range of musical experience as a liturgical, orchestral, chamber, and solo musician. He is currently the director of the Schola Cantorum at Fisher House, the Catholic Chaplaincy to the University of Cambridge, which specialises in liturgical plainchant and polyphony. Carlos also sings as a tenor in the Queens' College Chapel Choir, conducted by Ralph Allwood MBE.

He is currently the co-principal violinist of the Cambridge University Sinfonia, and has played with such orchestras as the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra, UWE Symphony Orchestra, Cambridge University Orchestra, Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra and the Bristol Youth Orchestra, of which he was the co-principal violinist for two years. Through this, he has worked with renowned conductors such as Ewa Strusińska, Natalia Luis-Bassa, Jonathan James, Jeremy Jackman, Jac van Steen, Christopher Robinson, Suzi Digby and Maxime Tortelier. His musical activities also include international tours such as the Cambridge University Musical Society tour to Tuscany, the Queens’ College Chapel Choir tour to Greece, and the Wolfson College Choir tour to Hungary, all in 2018 alone.

Carlos also has extensive chamber music experience including playing the violin and piano in string trios, piano trios, the Elvira String Quartet and a variety of other ensembles. He is also a keen conductor, who has recently started to explore orchestral conducting through projects such as the Society of St Margaret of Queens' College Lent concert, where he conducted Mozart's 39th symphony and Mendelssohn's violin concerto played by Patrick Bevan (leader of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain). Piano accompaniment, composition and teaching are also important parts of Carlos’ musical life: past composition projects have included the intergenerational Soundtrack project and the Bristol Young Composers’ Academy. It is because of his range of musical endeavours that Carlos was chosen by the Guild of Guardians to be a City Wait for the Lord Mayor of Bristol from 2016-2017, among other prizes and recognitions.

He has collaborated extensively over several years as a solo performer, accompanist and singer with the Orfeón Lucense, the cathedral choir of Lugo (Spain), in the awards ceremony for the Manuel Oreste Rodriguez Lopez Literary Contest in Paradela (Lugo), and has on occasion enjoyed immersing himself in his Galician heritage by playing as soloist in folk festivals in his native Spain, including the 10th edition of the folk festival “Cantares de Reices” in Boimorto, and the 36th edition of the International Folk Dance Festival in Viveiro.