ANTONIO SANTANA

Composer

 

The Great Composer Antonio Santana is unique in his musical color, as were the illustrious Mozart, Beethoven and Bach (to name a few) who each had their own essence. Maestro Santana's color is rich and distinct by its velvet, often purple in its seduction.

 

Maestro Santana is classically trained and is well known for his vocal, musical and operatic works.

 

Thanks to his Brazilian origins which give him enormous flexibility, he has several strings to his bow. He can write symphonic music, chamber music, concert works, film music, advertising, educational music for children, various pieces for all instruments, vocal music, music for strings, religious music and also light music. He is therefore at ease in all areas.

 

The year 2023 is announced with the release of the CD Clin d'œil au masculin with a preface by Jean-Michel Dhuez, on March 12 a concert by the Voice of the Oceans at the Palais des Arts in Pornichet, at the end of March in Montpellier world premiere of his work for quartet: Scènes Brasiliennes in 6 movements by the Hèlios quartet…and also on March 27 and 28, recitals with pianist Serhiy Salov and violinist François Pineau-Benois.

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His recent engagements, On February 11 and 12, 2022 in the Church of the Ste Trinité in Paris two exceptional concerts: Hummel: Concerto for trumpet and orchestra, Beethoven: Chorus of the Ruins of Athens, Santana: two world premieres: Fantaisist Suite for trumpet and orchestra, De Profundis, grand motet for soprano, choir and orchestra with Tatiana Probst soprano, Guy Touvron trumpet, Chœur et Orchester Français d'Oratorio, direction Jean-Pierre Lo Ré in the presence of his Excellency the Ambassador of Ukraine in France and a delegation from Ukraine with the family of Vassil Slipak, to whom the De profundis was dedicated, as well as the Director of the kyiv Opera and the head of the Livl Choirs. Huge success!...

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Dourdan on June 11, 2022 flute Ekaterina Kornhina, piano Daniel Propper concert which will end with a creation by Antonio Santana: Inspiration Tropicale.

July 2, 2022 in St. Nazaire La Voix des Océans in its entirety and November 6, 2022 in Vannes. December 4, 2022: with the Académie Musicale de Liesse and Stèphane Bern Under the high patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline of Hanover, a musical show Once upon a time Notre-Dame was given in the abbey church of Thiron-Gardais for the benefit of the restoration of this church, this concert ended with a sacred piece: Notre Dame for choir, concert violin and piano by Antonio Santana to celebrate the rebirth of Notre Dame de Paris following its destruction by fire. A video was produced during this world premiere with the collaboration of Stéphane Bern and the assistance of the Acadèmie de Liesse, the violinist François Pineau-Benois and the pianist Daniel Propper under the direction of Michaël Modde.

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His engagements mark the year 2019: in the United States, in Copenhagen, in Oslo, Montreal, in Italy and in Greece and also in France at the Opéra d'Avignon, at the Gordes and Montperreux festivals also at the Salle Gaveau on November 14 and at the end of November in Quimper.

 

Other concerts with great success presented in 2020 with La Voix des Océans on February 9 at Pont L'Abbé as well as in other cities of Brittany in March, April, June, July. La Voix de l'Amazonie was performed on January 30, 2020 at Carnegie Hall, March 7, 2020 in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Paris was performed: La voix des Océans. At the end of June 2020 carte blanche is given to Antonio Santana at the Russian Orthodox Cultural Center in Paris, on July 4, 2020 creation in Kiev of De Profundis… October 10, 2020: Requiem: Chant de lumière in the Cathedral of Versailles… but since March 13, 2020 the Covid 19 epidemic is in action and the concerts are canceled one after the other. There will still be a Virtual Recital on July 25, 2020 at the FestivalOpéra de Saint-Eustache des Grandes Laurentides in Canada with renowned Soprano Falcon Sharon Azrieli and pianist Jonathan Monro in melodies by Antonio Santana: Il pleure dans mon coeur, Berceuse, Beija me. Also took place with great success in Moscow, on March 21, 2021, at the L'Arte del Arco festival, creation of La Suite d'été for Violin and string orchestra with the violinist Graf Mourja, Grand Prix Master of Monaco as well as the November 27, 2021 in the Cathedral of St Louis in Versailles, the Requiem Chant de lumière.

 

Upcoming engagements, the concerts which could not be given since April 2020 will be rescheduled in 2021 but the dates are still a little vague and imprecise, creation of De Profundis for choirs and orchestra, creation of La Suite Fantaisiste for trumpet and orchestra with the great trumpeter Guy Touvron in November 2021 in the Church of the Trinity in Paris, in Kiev De Profundis and La Voix des Océans in December 2021, on November 13 or 24 in St Louis Cathedral in Versailles the Requiem Chant de Lumière.

 

It was in 1994 that he put his cantata Un chant pour la planète on paper, for large choir, soloists and orchestra. This moving and inspired work has been performed on several occasions in Paris, such as at the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, at the Natural History Museum in Paris, in the province and abroad with huge success.

 

He had to put aside his desire for a pianistic career to finally let all the music that had resided in him since his earliest childhood and to which he never listened an ear, burst forth. Literally invaded by musical ideas, he composes relentlessly without worrying about any aesthetic whatsoever letting himself be guided only by his inner voice. Curious by nature, he is also interested in Philosophy, History and Theology as well as in the discovery of civilizations around the world for the sake of artistic development.

 

 

Lover of the voice, he sets to music poems by Baudelaire, Verlaine among others as well as melodies inspired by Brazilian landscapes for soprano and piano, baritone and piano ...

Among his works we can also cite: Rapsodie aux Portes du Désert for tenor and string orchestra, Cycle Antique for contralto, cello and piano, Brazilian Suite for cello and piano, Burlesque Pastiche in the form of Tarentella for violin and piano, Cycle Mystique for solo piano, Miroir de femmes twelve pieces for mezzo soprano and piano, Miniatures in two volumes for young pianists, Cantata Evolution (dedicated to Professor Geneviève Meurgues Grande Galerie de l'Evolution at the Museum of Natural History in Paris) for choir, soprano , two harps, piano and percussion, and many other pieces for violin, cello, flute and voice. On his desk, there is an Opera ...

 

On June 1 and 3, 2014, the Requiem Chant de lumière, written in tribute to the victims of the Rio-Paris air disaster, brought together 300 choristers and the French Oratorio Orchestra with soprano Julie Cherrier and baritone Jean-Louis Serre under the baton of Jean-Pierre Lo Ré in world premiere.

 

On April 30, 2015 was released the CD Voyages with works for piano, violin, cello with Anton Martynov violin, Daniel Propper piano and Mark Drobinsky cello.

 

On December 21, 2017 the musicologist Alain Duault presented, at the Bedford Hotel in Paris, the recital Miroir de femmes with Kira Parfeevets on the piano and Anton Martynov on the violin surrounded by the singers: Michelle Canniccioni, Blerta Zhegu, Marion Lebégue, Delphine Haidan to whom In 2018, among others, Inva Mula will join forces  for the recording of the CD Miroir de femmes prefaced and also presented by Alain Duault during a concert at the Rachmaninov Conservatory in Paris on November 13, 2018.

 

His meeting with the marine biologist Pierre Mollo, specialist in plankton, gave birth to an ambitious project around a Symphonic Suite dedicated to the Sea: La Voix des Océans. This work aims to merge music and high technology. It was created on July 22, 2018, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the royal city of Port Louis in Morbihan within the Citadel. There were 500 people invited, the concert was hailed as "grandiose" "breathtaking" in the words of the local press Ouest-France and Le Télégramme.

 

Born in Brazil, at the age of 17 he obtained 1st prize in Piano, History of Music, Harmony and Musical Writing at the Mario de Andrade Conservatory in Sao Paulo.

 

He gives recitals in several cities of Brazil at the same time as he perfected himself with Alfredo Cerquinho and Magda Tagliaferro, one of the greatest pianists and pedagogue of the 20th century. In 1985, he joined the European Conservatory of Paris in the piano class of Anna Stella Schic. He also works with Françoise Levechin on analysis and writing. Anxious to perfect his theoretical studies, he studied the Treaty of Composition by Vincent D’Indy as well as the Treatises of Orchestration by Berlioz and Rimsky Korsakov supervised by Michel Philippot.

 

The LM Opéra Agency is proud and honored to represent Maestro Antonio Santana on an international scale.