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Santiago Villalba
Santiago Villalba is an Argentine pianist, composer, arranger and orchestrator based in Buenos Aires. His work moves across jazz, tango, contemporary music and orchestral composition, combining more than two decades of experience as a performer with an extensive background in composition and instrumental writing.
Villalba has been active as a jazz pianist since the early 2000s, performing with different ensembles and leading his own projects. In 2004 he appeared at the El Bolsón Jazz Festival, and over the following years continued developing projects connected with jazz, improvisation and Argentine music.
From 2022 to 2025 he was the pianist of Tango Jazz Quartet, taking part in four international tours and performing at jazz clubs, festivals and concert venues across Europe. His work with the group explored the meeting point between the rhythmic and expressive language of Argentine tango and jazz improvisation.
He has also participated in projects connecting jazz and contemporary music, including Gandini Band, devoted to the improvisational, jazz and tango dimensions of Argentine composer Gerardo Gandini's work.
Alongside his activity as a pianist, Villalba has developed an extensive career as a composer of chamber, orchestral and stage music. His works include opera, and his music has been presented at institutions including the Centro de Experimentación del Teatro Colón (CETC) in Buenos Aires.busca imagenes reales para subir
As an arranger and orchestrator, his writing draws on both sides of his musical experience: the practical knowledge of a performing jazz musician and the instrumental and structural resources of contemporary composition.
Awards
Awards & Selected Distinctions
2019 — Winner, Nuevas Vocalidades Residency
Centro de Experimentación del Teatro Colón (CETC) / Fundación Williams. Selected interdisciplinary project developed in collaboration with Ensemble Dal Niente.
2016 — Winner, First New Opera Competition
Organized by the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón and the Centro de Experimentación del Teatro Colón (CETC), Buenos Aires. The winning opera, Don Juan, was subsequently premiered at the First Buenos Aires New Opera Festival at the CETC / Teatro Colón. The work is independently documented as the competition winner by Página/12 and Teatro Colón-related sources.
2015 — Second Prize, Juan Carlos Paz Composition Competition
Category: Symphonic Work without Soloist, for Modern Clix.
2015 — Honorable Mention, TRINAC 2015 — Argentine Rostrum of Composers
For Marrón, azul, gris, for solo clarinet. The work was selected to represent Argentina at the ISCM World Music Days 2016 in Tongyeong, South Korea.
2015 — Second Prize, VIII International Jurgenson Competition for Young Composers
Category: String Quartet or String Trio, for Epifrasis for string trio. The work reached the final round at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, where it was performed by members of the New Music Studio Ensemble. The competition received 129 scores from 35 countries.
2011 — Winner, TRINAC — Argentine Rostrum of Composers
For the chamber work Graffiti.
2009 — Melos–Gandini Scholarship
Selected for the Melos–Gandini Composition Workshop with Gerardo Gandini. The program culminated in the premiere of Persigo una forma for chamber ensemble at the Jorge Luis Borges Auditorium of the National Library of Argentina, followed by publication by Melos. The scholarship itself is also documented in Villalba’s institutional biography.
2003 — First Prize, Hazen Competition — Chamber Music
Awarded as a pianist at the Joaquín Turina Conservatory, Madrid, Spain.
Tags
PRESS / REVIEWS — las más importantes
- 2004 — Diario Río Negro — “El jazz que hace temblar a El Bolsón”
Crítica del El Bolsón Jazz Festival. Te destaca individualmente al piano: “el virtuosismo de Santiago Villalba”. Es importantísima porque documenta tu actividad jazzística ya en 2004.
Thelonious Monk
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Santiago Villalba
Location: Buenos Aires
Instrument: Piano
