Jaime Laredo
Jaime Laredo (born June 7, 1941, in Cochabamba, Bolivia) is an American violinist, violist, conductor, and music educator of Bolivian heritage. Laredo burst upon the international classical music scene at age 17 in 1959 when he won First Prize for violin at the International Queen Elizabeth Grand Prize in Brussels, Belgium (at the time, the youngest winner in the history of the prize and the first Latin American). Since then, Laredo has had an uninterrupted and celebrated 65-year career in classical symphonic and chamber music, mostly in the United States, as a violinist, violist, conductor, and educator, receiving numerous accolades, awards and honors.
Laredo has played with or conducted some of the leading symphony orchestras in the world. During his career, he has made approximately 100 recordings. As a violinist, playing with, and conducting, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Laredo in 1986 recorded Antonio Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", which appeared on the United Kingdom classical music best seller list for one year.
In 1992, as a violist, Laredo won a Grammy for best chamber music performance of Brahm's quartets. Laredo was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2010. Bolivia, the country of his birth, has awarded Laredo its highest national decoration (the Order of the Condor of the Andes), has issued postage stamps bearing his image, and has named a large outdoor amphitheater in the capital, La Paz, in his honor. He is considered a national hero.
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