The Spanish violinist Octavi Martinez Bartolome comes from Barcelona and was born into a musical family in 1993. His mother is a professor of piano and his father is the well-known composer Carlos Martinez Eroles.
He commenced his studies with Raul Munizaga at the Escola Municipal de Musica de Premia de Mar and continued with Joan Orpella at the Conservatoire Professional de Musica de Badalona.
His outstanding talent was soon noticed. He was accepted as a member of the JONC (National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia) at the age of 9, three years ahead of the normal application age. By the age of 14 he was ready for his first concerto engagement playing the Kabalevsky concerto with the Orquestra del Conservatori de Badalona.
From 2007-2011 he studied at The Purcell School, London, England. To enable his studies at the Purcell School he was awarded two scholarships: the British Government Music and Dance Scheme Scholarship and the Catalan Government Music Scholarship. His teachers were Evgeny Grach and Yuri Zhislin.
To date he has been the winner of the first prize in 6 national and international competitions:
2002 Chamber Music Competition in Premia de Dalt
2005 Chamber Music Competition in Castelltercol
2008 Violin Competition Conservatoire de Girona - intermediate category
2008 Violin Competition Vila de Salou
2010 Burgos International Music Festival for all instruments
2011 Violin Competition Conservatoire de Girona - advanced category
He has taken part in many masterclasses with internationally renowned violinists such as Akiko Tatsumi, Rainer Sonne, Zvi Zeitlin,Victor Danchenko, and most notably:
Aaron Rosand and Ida Haendel who were both very impressed with his talent.
He has given many recitals in Europe. In Spain he has performed in the Auditori de Barcelona and in London, he has performed in the Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall.
He continues his studies with Professor Paul de Keyser of London and plays on a violin by Joseph Gagliano.
