Biography
Rodrigo García-Bernalt is a saxophonist and composer. His work centres on jazz, bolero and Latin American song, both as a performer and as a songwriter.
Born in Jerez de la Frontera and raised in Olivenza (Spain), he completed his classical training at the Conservatorio Profesional Juan Vázquez in Badajoz. He then moved to Barcelona, where he graduated in Jazz Saxophone Performance from the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC); his teachers there included Lluc Casares, Lluís Vidal, Carme Canela, Gorka Benítez and Joan Monné. In 2026 he moved to New York to pursue a Master of Music in Performer-Composer at The New School.
In Barcelona he founded the OLI Big Band, a big band of young musicians from the city’s conservatories, which he led for three seasons, handling its production and playing lead alto. With it he performed at festivals and venues across Catalonia. In 2025 the band released Kōan, a piece by Lluís Marcet recorded with Lluc Casares as guest soloist. With vibraphonist Andreu Bayarri he forms the duo Macondo Sonoro, devoted to Latin American repertoire in arrangements by both musicians. Together they have performed in Catalonia, Extremadura and the Valencia region, at venues such as the Alboraia Jazz Festival.
Alongside his original songs, he has written arrangements for ensembles as different as duo, string quartet and concert band. For the 175th anniversary of the Filarmónica de Olivenza he composed the pasodoble Feria en Olivenza.
Away from the stage, he volunteered for several years with Casal dels Infants in Barcelona, on projects with children and young people at risk of social exclusion. In Olivenza he has organised benefit concerts for Sonrisas en Acción, a humanitarian aid association based in Cáceres.