José Francisco Montes was born in Acarigua, state of Portuguesa, and began his musical studies at the Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Acarigua, at the age of eight, with maestro Roberto Zambrano. Montes began to study the double bass under maestros Rubén Villegas, Henry Zambrano, Gabriel Torres, and William Omaña. He participated in the International Youth Orchestra Festival held in Barquisimeto in 2008. He played Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 under maestro Gustavo Dudamel and has also performed under Diego Matheus (2011) at the VI Festival de Juventudes held in Caracas.
He is a member of the double bass section of the Youth Orchestra of Lara and the Lara Symphony Orchestra. This young musician holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering and is continuing his double bass studies at the Vicente Emilio Sojo Conservatory of Music.
He serves as a double bass teacher at the Núcleo of Santa Rosa (an El Sistema music education center), where the orchestral initiation program ‘Compotas’ was established.
