Octavio Brunetti

Octavio Brunetti (May 12, 1975 – August 29, 2014) was a pianist, arranger and composer from Argentina. He was best known for his participation in the album Te amo tango (Soundbrush Records SR 1009) by Raul Jaurena, which won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Tango Album in 2007,[1] and was one of the most sought after tango pianists.

Biography

Octavio Brunetti was born on May 12, 1975 in Rosario, Argentina. From early childhood, Brunetti was trained in classical piano, and before he even finished his studies at the National School of Music in Rosario he was already playing in concerts discovering his passion for the music from his country, the tango. In no time, he played with many important musicians such as famous singer Alberto Castillo, Eladia Blázquez, Rubén Juárez, Domingo Federico, Rodolfo Mederos and Osvaldo Piro, and he has shared the stage with Horacio Salgan-De Lio and Atilio Stampone. His talent earned him many awards and took him to perform at the famous Teatro Colón, Teatro San Martín, Buenos Aires, Teatro San Martín in Córdoba, Argentina, still at a very young age.[1]

In 1991 he founded the Tango Rosario Symphonic Orchestra and became a member of the Omar Torres Quintet with whom he made his first tango recording, Inquietudes. In 1997 he left the Quintet and joined the Domingo Federico Tango Orchestra, with whom he traveled through Argentina and Europe and recorded a second CD, Orquesta Juvenil de Tango de la U.N.R. Shortly after that Brunetti created his first own quintet, playing original arrangements of traditional and modern tangos as well as original compositions. Throughout this time, he continued to perform classical repertoire in a piano duo with his sister Laura.[1] In 2002, he was named conductor of the Orchestra of Popular Music of the Province of Córdoba.

In 2004 Brunetti moved to the U.S. to attend the Berklee College of Music. During this time he received two first prizes at the New York City International Tango Competition: Best Solo Pianist and Best Duo (with saxophonist Bernardo Monk). In 2005 he moved to New York and met bandoneón player Raúl Jaurena, with whom he recorded the CD Te amo tango, which won the Grammy Award for best tango album in 2007. He has also played with bandoneón masters Daniel Binelli, Hector Del Curto and Tito Castro. In 2005 he founded his own tango quintet, the Octavio Brunetti Quintet,[1] in 2008 the Urban Tango Trio with Machiko Ozawa (violin) and Pedro Giraudo (bass),[2] and in 2012 the trio Los Varones del Tango with Sergio Reyes (violin) and Pedro Giraudo (bass).

Brunetti has performed with luminaries of the concert world, including world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Cuban jazz saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera, and violinist Cho-Liang Lin. In addition he has participated in numerous music festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and performed in venues such as Symphony Space, Blue Note, Rose Theatre (Jazz at Lincoln Center), Belleayre Music Festival, Ojai Music Festival, La Jolla Music Fest, New York Chamber Music Festival, Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (Japan), Al Bustan Festival (Lebanon), Teatro San Martín (Buenos Aires), and Teatro Colón (Salón Dorado).[1]

In September 2013 Octavio Brunetti’s arrangement of Astor Piazzolla’s suite La serie del Ángel, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, got its premiere in a performance at the Philharmonic’s Opening Gala, conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert, and performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma (recorded by Sony BMG Classical, Appassionato).

Other well known recordings include the Grammy-Award winning Te amo tango with Raúl Jaurena (bandoneón), Urban Tango Trio with Machiko Ozawa (violin) and Pedro Giraudo (bass) and the original soundtrack recordings for Francis Ford Coppola’s films Tetro (Deutsche Grammophon) and Twixt, both with scores by Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov.[1]

Still in July 2014 Brunetti performed with the Octavio Brunetti Tango Orchestra at the Midsummer Night Swing Festival in the Lincoln Center in New York.

On August 3, 2014 Octavio Brunetti was hospitalized in the Mount Sinai Hospital for an unexpected infectious illness. However, the doctors could not find the location of the infection and the cure, and Brunetti died.[3]

Discography

Awards

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 My biography. Website of Octavio Brunetti.
  2. ↑ Urban Tango Trio. Website of the Urban Tango Trio.
  3. ↑ "Octavio Brunetti, vida, tango y arte; ahora, a la naturaleza eterna" (in Spanish). sdpnoticias.com. September 1, 2014.
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