Berta Rojas

With a renowned international trajectory, praise for Berta includes the Washington Post´s “…guitarist extraordinaire” and Classical Guitar Magazine´s “…ambassador of the classical guitar.”

Her album, Legado (2022), garnered two Latin Grammy awards. One, in the category of Best Classical Album, and another for the work entitled “Anido’s Portrait” written for the album by Sergio Assad, receiving the statuette for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Berta has been nominated to the Latin Grammy on three other occasions: in the category of Best Tango Album for History of Tango (2015), recorded with the Camerata Bariloche; in the category of Best Classical Album for Salsa Roja (2014); and in the category of Best Instrumental Album for Día y Medio – A Day and a Half, a duo with Paquito D’Rivera (2012).

Berta´s acknowledged warmth and musicality have won her the admiration of audiences at major venues worldwide. Among them are, the 92Y, the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall and the Fredrick P. Rose Hall of Jazz at the Lincoln Center in New York, the South Bank Centre of London, at Shakespeare´s Globe in London as a guest of the grand master, John Williams, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and Flagey Studio 4 in Brussels, where she performed with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra for Belgian National Television.

In 2011, Berta, along with guest star Paquito D’Rivera, initiated the four-year tour “In the Footsteps of Mangoré” following the travels of Paraguay´s Agustín Barrios, pioneer of the classical guitar in the Americas. The duo performed in twenty countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, concluding the journey at the National Theater of the capital of El Salvador, the final resting place of the celebrated composer.

Berta takes her audience on a colorful journey of sound at each concert, embracing new works by composers in diverse genres.

In addition to continually enriching her own artistic career with frequent international tours offering concerts and giving master classes, Berta Rojas is passionately committed to furthering and disseminating the classical guitar. A particular focus is on promoting the music of her country, Paraguay, as well as Latin American music more widely. Providing ongoing support for the careers of young upcoming guitarists is another facet dear to her heart, with projects in different formats such as the Barrios WorldWideWeb Competition, the Ensemble Pu Rory (in the Guaraní language, Festive Sounds), Instrumentoteca and Jeporeka (Search), among others.

After initial studies in Paraguay under masters Felipe Sosa and Violeta de Mestral, Berta continued her studies in Uruguay as a student of Abel Carlevaro, Eduardo Fernández and Mario Payseé. She went on to get a master’s in music at the Peabody Institute under Manuel Barrueco, Ray Chester, and Julian Gray. Berta recently joined the faculty of Berklee College of Music as an Associate Professor, sharing her knowledge and love of music with a select group of young guitarists from various parts of the world.

Berta Rojas has been ranked amongst the most influential women in the Hispanic World by EFE News Agency in 2014 and EsGlobal in 2017. She was named a Fellow of the Americas of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for her artistic excellence, and honored by her country with the title, Illustrious Ambassador of Musical Arts, granted by the Senate. In 2015, the Chamber of Deputies awarded her the National Order of Merit of the Comuneros, and the Cabildo of the capital, Asunción, the title of Master of the Arts. The Autonomous University of Encarnacion granted her an Honorary Doctorate in 2016 as did the Universidad Americana. The Foreign Ministry of Paraguay gave her the National Order of Merit Don José Falcón in 2017 in acknowledgement for her outstanding contribution to culture. The Carlos Colombino Award bestowed by the National Secretariat of Culture followed suit. In 2019, the National University of Asunción also granted her an Honorary Doctorate. In 2022 she received the Golden Guitar Award: A Life Dedicated to the Guitar, bestowed by the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Milan.

More recently in 2023, she was awarded with the National Order of Merit in the Grade of "Grand Cross", the highest degree of recognition granted by Paraguay.