Ronald Martin Alonso
is with no question one of the current generation’s most exciting performers of baroque music. His biography reads like a novel. Born into a relatively poor family in Havana he was drawn to music from the earliest age. Noticing her son’s precocious talent, his mother enrolled him in the local music school where he studied guitar and double bass. But it was only after graduating in both instruments that, at the age of 20, his life was to change irrevocably.

It was at the French film festival in Havana that he saw the pivotal film "Tous les matins du Monde" (All the Mornings of the World) and he was immediately captivated by the music he had heard and the instrument on which it was played: the viola da gamba. Some historical context is important here: this was the end of the 1990’s and Cuba was only beginning to come out of the ‘Período especial’ the severe economic crisis that had put the country on its knees. The country had one baroque ensemble, but there were no scores and still less no method on how to learn to play the viola da gamba. Ronald would watch the film over and over whenever he could so as to memorize the score in his mind. Nothing would stop him doing what was needed to learn this instrument!

Later, he joined the Ars Longa ensemble (Teresa Paz) where he began to play the instrument and with whom he has since made several recordings of Latin-American baroque music for K617 label, which all of them have been lauded by critics, (Diapason d’Or, Choc from the Monde de la Musique, ffff from Télérama, 10 from Répertoire) . The ensemble has played for conductors such as Claudio Abbado and Gabriel Garrido and performs regularly throughout Europe organised by Alain Pacquier and Les Chemins du Baroque.

In 2003 his love of music brought Ronald to France, a country – and in particular its capital Paris – which since his youngest days has represented for him the summit of art, refinement and beauty. Graduating in viola da gamba with the highest distinction from the conservatoires of Paris and Strasbourg, he studied with Ariane Maurette as well as taking courses with Rebeca Ruso, Martin Gester and Jean Tubéry. He has had the benefit of masterclasses from Gabriel Garrido, Christophe Coin, Marianne Müller and Jordi Savall.

With the Stravaganza ensemble he has won several international chamber music competitions: Audience and media prize and 3rd prize at Premio Bonporti (Roveretto, Italy 2011) The De Graaf Unico Special Prize, Van Wassnaer Competition (Amsterdam, 2011), The Franz Josef Aumann prize at the HIF Biber International Competition (Austria 2012)

Ronald Martin Alonso is a regular guest with leading ensemble such as Cappella Mediterranea (Leonardo García-Alarcón), Le Poème Harmonique (Vincent Dumestre) Les Traversées Baroques (Etienne Meyer), Il Festino (Manuel de Grange), Fuoco e Cenere (Jay Bernfeld), MUSIca ALcheMIca (Lina Tur Bonet), La Chapelle Rhénane (Benoît Haller), Il Caravaggio (Camille Delaforge) as well as playing at many of the world’s leading concert halls and festivals like the Opéra de Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Teatro Colon, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, to mention just a few oh them. He has recorded for several labels including Paraty, Alpha classics, K617, Accent, Ambronay éditions, Musica ficta, Glossa, Ricercar, Muso, Aparté, Hortus and Brilliant Classics.

Since 2014 Ronald has been artistic director of the Ensemble Vedado with which he produces his personal musical projects ranging from baroque to contemporary music performed on viola da gamba. He regularly plays in recital in Europe and Cuba in programmes designed to show the bridges between the past and the present, between the old world and the new.

Fascinated with the possibilities of his instrument and its sound, Ronald Martin Alonso regularly collaborates with contemporary composers. His second recording, Dialogues, was released in September 2020 on Paraty Records and balances work for solo viol by Sainte-Colombe with contemporary pieces by Philippe Hersant, including a new work, Pascolas, dedicated to him by the composer.

The Vedado Ensemble
takes various forms, assembling singers and musicians according to the repertoire but always under the direction of the viola da gamba player Ronald Martin Alonso. The ensemble specialises in music from the baroque period as well as in contemporary music played on baroque instruments.

Its first project in 2011 centered on the work of the Cuban composer Esteban Salas, kapellmeister at Santiago de Cuba Cathedral from 1764 until his death in 1803. Several projects highlighting the viola da gamba followed and gave rise to two recordings: « À la Marésienne » (K617 label) and « Les Folies Humaines », both of works by the composer Marin Marais.

The Ensemble Vedado is a frequent guest at festivals in France including Les Grands Concerts in Lyon, the Festival Baroque du Mont-Blanc, the Festival Format Raisins, Sinfonia in Périgord, the Journées musicales d’Automne in Souvigny and Les Méridiennes in Tours, as well as abroad: Festival du Museo de la Citta, Cremona (Italy), Midi-Minimes, Brussels (Belgium), Festival de música antigua Esteban Salas, Havana (Cuba), Festival de musica da camara, Almaty (Kazakhstan), Teatro Nacional, Quito (Ecuador), Festival de música Antigua, Lima (Peru).

The ensemble also performs regularly on French radio in programmes produced by Gaëlle Le Gallic, Xavier Carrère, Clément Rochefort and Edouard Fouré Caul-Futy.