Silvano Monasterios

Pianist-composer Silvano Monasterios was born in Caracas, Venezuela. After years of training at the Jose Angel Lamas Conservatory, he began his professional career at the age of 18, already having become experienced in a wide variety of musical genres by performing and recording with some of the most prominent Venezuelan artists.

In 1989, he traveled to Miami, Florida to participate at the Miami Jazz Festival, where he received a “Best Soloist Award”. In 1990, he immigrated to The United States where he received a scholarship from Miami Dade Community College. After obtaining an “Outstanding Soloist Award” at the University of Colorado in 1991, Silvano received a music scholarship from the University of Miami, from which he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1995.

Silvano has performed with a number of important artists including Ira Sullivan, Terumasa Hino & the World Jazz All-Stars, Othello Molineaux, Dave Liebman, Melton Mustafa, Marc Johnson, Donald Byrd, Alan Harris, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Nathen Page, Randy Brecker, Sammy Figueroa, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Paul Wertico, Mark Egan, Claudio Roditi, Dave Valentin, Shakira, David Lee Roth, and Nestor Torres.

In 1998, Silvano was voted “New Artist of the Year” at the “Hennessey Cognac Jazz Search” in New York City. 1998 also marked the release of his first CD, Roads Not Taken, which received outstanding reviews in the U.S. and Latin America.

Unfulfilled academic aspirations led Silvano to return to the University of Miami where he earned his Master’s Degree in Jazz Piano and Pedagogy in 2004. DownBeat Magazine honored Silvano as the winner of its “Best Jazz Instrumental Soloist Award” in the Annual 28th (2005) Student Music Awards. A particularly gifted composer, he also won in the category of “College Original Song Outstanding Performance” for his composition “Avila.”

Last summer, his new recording entitled Fostered was released. Fostered features all original compositions, including “Avila”, mentioned above.

In 2007, Dogleg Records, a new independent company will release a live recording of the Wertico/Egan/Monasterios Trio. Also, a new release by Latin Jazz Grammy Nominee Sammy Figueroa, entitled The Magician, will feature two pieces written, arranged and performed by Silvano, including the title track.