Raúl Díaz

Lore & Background

Raúl Díaz was born in Venezuela in 1963. He attended The Vicente Emilo Sojo Conservatory and performed professionally before going to England in 1983. In England he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, taught by Anthony Halstead and Jeffrey Bryant. He won the Philip Jones Brass Prize and became interested in the natural horn and baroque performance practice. He has played with many orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, English Concert, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Le Concert des Nations, Hanover Band, Café Zimmermann, I Barocchisti and Drottningholm Theater Orchestra. He has taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and given Master Classes in Spain, Germany, Indonesia, Philippines, and in both North and South America. He also teaches at the Maurice Andre Academy and the Horn Academy in Andalusia.

In Their Own Story

The stadium was half-full, the kind of humid Tuesday-night CONCACAF qualifier where the floodlights hummed and the concrete seats were warm from the afternoon sun. Díaz was tracking back, again, his boots leaving small furrows in the worn grass near the centre circle. The opposing winger had taken him on twice already; the third time, Díaz didn't go for the tackle. He simply turned, matched the pace, and let the man run into space that wasn't there. The crowd — maybe four thousand, maybe fewer — exhaled. The commentator, a gravelly voice on the local radio, said nothing for a full three seconds. Then, quietly: "Y ahí está Raúl. Siempre ahí." And somewhere in the stands, a father turned to his son and said, "That's how you play for Mexico. You don't need to be the one with the ball. You just need to be the one who's still standing when the ball arrives."

Reader's Guide

Raúl Díaz is a hornist, not a football player. He was born in Venezuela, not Mexico. His career is in classical and period-instrument performance.

Did You Know?

• Raúl Díaz was born in Venezuela, not Mexico.
• He plays both modern and natural horn.
• He won the Philip Jones Brass Prize while at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
• He has performed with the Academy of Ancient Music and the English Concert.