Pedro Eustache


Pedro Eustache is a Venezuelan born multidirectional soloist flautist, reed player, world woodwind player, wind synthesist, researcher, composer, lecturer, and instrument maker with extensive academic studies and more than 40 years of professional experience. He has more than seven years of symphonic experience and a collection of around 600 instruments from all over the world, many of which having been designed, built and/or modified by himself.

Biography

Education

Venezuelan-born Eustache studied first in Venezuela under maestros Michel Eustache, Ernesto Santini, Antonio Jose Naranjo and Glenn Egner while a member of José Antonio Abreu's "Venezuelan Youth National Orchestra". Upon graduation, he received a scholarship from the Venezuelan government to study in Europe, at the Hector Berlioz Conservatoire and L'Ècole de Musique d'Asnières, with Raymond Guiot & Pierre-Yves Artaud, respectively, with advanced studies with Aurèle Nicolet in Basel, Switzerland. He also has a M.F.A. in jazz from the California Institute of the Arts, U.S., where he studied with James Newton Jr. and Amiya Dasgupta, among other masters, and extensive studies in other music cultures of the world. These include Hindustani classical music and bansuri with Ravi Shankar, PanditsHariprasad Chaurasia and Rajeev Taranath, shehnai with Pt. Rajendra Prasanna; Armenian duduk with maestro Djivan Gasparyan, Persian Ney with professor Houman Pourmehdi; classical Arabic music with maestro Riadh El Fehri and Arabic Ney with Nabil Abdmouleh; Australian didgeridoo with David Hudson; Japanese Shakuhachi with the late sensei Mazakazu Yoshizawa; Tunisian Mezoued with the late maestro Mustapha Ben Romdhane; & more recently in Jordan, Kawala with master Nour Dhin and Arabic Nay with maestro Hamsa El Faqir, respectively, among many others.
Mr. Eustache's performances are full of tremendous uplifting synergy, which seem to contrast with the tragedy he & his wife Sara suffered years ago, when losing their three-year-old daughter—Ginette Esther—to brain cancer.
He is a devout, deeply convicted follower of Christ, and dedicates his art to “The Father of Lights”, source of all true inspiration and creativity

Premiere

In Feb 2009 Eustache premiered his composition . Eustache performed on 21 solo woodwind instruments, under the baton of his fellow-countryman Gustavo Dudamel, with his "Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar", Caracas, Venezuela.

Solo concerts

Mr. Eustache performed a "Multidirectional Flute" solo concert at the prestigious . Eustache had been invited by flute soloist, Prof. Sophie Cherrier, in Dec 10th. 2015.]
of the 3rd. International Spanish Flute Convention "Gala concert", before renowned soloists Davide Formisano, Emmanuel Pahud, and flamenco soloist Jorge Pardo in Seville 2014.
Mr Eustache was a , under the baton of soloist and conductor Demondrae Thurman, Birmingham Alabama, Oct. 2014.
In 2008 and 2015 gave a solo concerts at the biggest concert-hall in Beirut, Lebanon, the "Palais de L'UNESCO", under the aegis of the Mid. Eastern Bible Society , directed by Dr. Michel Bassous, and was one of the guests soloists invited by the Armenian government and Mr. Garik Israelian for the 6-hour long '80 years Anniversary Tribute-Concert' in honor of his duduk master, maestro Djivan Gasparyan, in Yerevan-Armenia. Both events were widely broadcast in both countries-regions, respectively. In this same year he had his 'comeback' solo concert in his native Caracas, as a soloist and guest teacher for the '2nd. Caracas International Flute Festival'. Eustache performed the C. Nielsen 'Concerto For Flute & Orchestra', conducted by the young dynamo Christian Vasquez and the "Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra".
He has also performed and/or recorded as a featured soloist with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, L'Orchestre Symphonique Du Bal de Vienne, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar , London Symphony Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Venezuela Symphony Orchestra , and the Caracas Symphonietta , among many others.

Film scores

As a studio musician, Mr. Eustache has often provided solo woodwind for recording sessions in Los Angeles. He has done many studio sessions for movies as a flute/woodwinds instrumentalist --- including being the main world woodwinds soloist for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ soundtrack, written by John Debney.
He won the 2007 Film & TV Music Award for Best Instrumental Performance by a Soloist in a Film or Television Score category for his work in Hans Zimmer's .
He played Middle-Eastern flutes, reeds and Armenian duduk featured in Steven Spielberg's Munich, composed and conducted by John Williams, as well as King Kenacho & Bs. Persian Ney in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. He also soloed extensively in Middle-Eastern woodwinds & duduk with the London Symphony Orchestra for the film, The Body. Other film soundtrack work includes "Kung Fu Panda", "American Gangster", "Rendition", "David & Fatima", "Body Of Lies", "Don't Mess with The Zohan", "Syriana", "The Village", "Blood Diamond", "King Kong", "Tropic Thunder", "The Tale Of Despereaux", "The Stoning Of Soraya M.", "The Mummy 3", "Beverly Hills Chihuahua", among many other.

Collaborations

His world flutes and woodwinds solos are also featured with several artists, including Sir Paul McCartney on his song "Jenny Wren", and "Growing Up Falling Down" which appears on the single Fine Line. For ten years he was the principal flute of Yanni Orchestra. He later performed on McCartney's 2018 album, Egypt Station. He was a featured soloist in the 2005 Grammy-award winner “Concert For George”, playing for possibly the first time ever the Armenian duduk in a traditional Indian classical music setting, alongside his teacher, the late Pandit Ravi Shankar.
He collaborated on 2014 Persian traditional music album Beyond Any Form.

Game scores

Pedro is also featured prominently in computer games' soundtracks World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, a multiplayer title with over 9 million subscribers worldwide, and Sony's "Lair".

Other performances

Mr Eustache was the featured winds soloist on Ramin Djawadi's/HBO's "Game of Thrones - Live Music Experience" international tour of 2017. Featured in 15 different acoustic & electronic wind instruments--including several exclusively designed/built for this event, like the flexible didgeridoo, or the 14-foot-long "WildLing horn", or the 5+foot tall giant pan-pipes, and sound design for the Sylphyo MIDI wind controller.
In 2017 he is also the featured solo wind soloist in "Hans Zimmer Live" world tour --with the world acclaimed, iconic oscar-winning notable film music composer, performing in 16 instruments--including--besides his concert flute, Bs flute & sop. sax--three Lyricons, as well as specially designed computer-based soft-synth sounds for the Sylphyo--MIDI wind synth controller, Armenian duduk, Venezuelan cuatro, Indian King bansuri and RaKIba, among others.
Mr. Eustache was a featured performer on Gustavo Dudamel's "Libertador" orchestral suite, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in the "Noche de Cine" concert special, July 30, 2014.
He has been the woodwinds featured soloist with Yanni's orchestra since 1995, most recently during the 2003-2004 Ethnicity and 2005 Yanni Live! tours, and appears on several of his Yanni Live at Royal Albert Hall, Tribute, and Yanni Live! The Concert Event.
He is the featured flute, sax & world winds soloist with Persian-pop diva Googoosh since 2000 to present.
Other recordings, tours and/or performances include jazz flautist/composer extraordinaire Dr. James Newton, Armenian composer/keyboardist Ara Gevorgian, Indian young luminary Anoushka Shankar, as well as in several international Christian crusades with evangelist Luis Palau, Pastor Benny Hinn and in various events with his spiritual father, Pastor Jack Hayford.
Eustache was brass section leader, for the Inside Job U.S. West-Coast tour for multiple Grammy-winner singer-songwriter Don Henley. He was also house band member for Edward James Olmos' Americanos Concert with Latin Superstars Cachao Lopez, Gloria Estefan, Paquito D'Rivera, José Feliciano, Juan Luis Guerra, Sheila E., among others, held at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., for the PBS Presents series.

Personal collection

Eustache has a collection of around 600 instruments from all over the world, including http://criticalhitband.com/band-profiles-pedro-eustache/ unique/custom woodwinds, and traditional world flute-based 3D printed Boehm flute headjoints prototypes--designed, modified &/or built by himself--as well as other strings, percussion and electronic & DAW/computer-based.

Teaching

As an educator, and lecturer, Eustache was invited by flute soloist professor Sophie Cherrier, and a solo concert at the prestigious in Dec 10th. 2014.
Invited by soloist Vicens Pratts-solo chair at the Paris Symphony, president of the National Association of Flautists of Spain, and a former co-disciple of Aurèle Nicolet - he gave lectures and masterclasses in improvisation and world music flutes at the , in Seville 2014.
In October 2014 he was an , teaching master-classes in music fundamentals, musical aesthetics, western classical performance, jazz improvisation, and world music winds, by Dr. K. Fousse, Birmingham Alabama.
Mr Eustache has also taught Classical western flute in the Venezuelan National Youth Symphony's Conservatory, the Children's Orchestra Conservatory; Jazz flute in 1993–95 at the California Institute of the Arts, & more recently , in a renewed connection with his native country, 'Introduction to Music Technology', 'Improvisation for Non-Improvisers' Parts I & II & 'World Music I: Introduction to The Classical Music of North India' at the Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales , as well as flute master classes at the FESNOJIV headquarter building in Caracas, Venezuela.

Current

He is involved in researching, designing/modifying and building one-of-a-kind custom wind instruments, as well as heavy involvement in applying computer-based audio digital technologies.

Discography

As a Soloist: