Fernando Otero XTango

Christian Mensing

• Hector del Curto - bandoneon
• Pablo Aslan - double bass
• Jaqui Carrasco - violin
• Leo Grinhauz - cello
• Fernando Otero - piano, accordion
Fernando Otero was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, now residing in New York, and has been a professional composer and performer for over 15 years. His music, written mainly in the Tango genre, combine beauty of sound with classical elements and contemporary influences. His early musical training was on classical piano and singing lessons he received from his mother, Elsa Marval, renowned opera singer and pianist. In Buenos Aires he absorbed the classic Tango style and Argentinean folklore. He studied Orchestration, Conducting, Harmony and Composition at the Galvani Conservatory in Argentina, followed by the study of instruments the accordion, bandoneรณn, charango and percussion. He began writing music for piano, choir and small groups of instruments, such as String quartets and Woodwinds quintets and including the use of the bandoneรณn in most of his works.


Utilizing folk elements and traditional techniques, Otero achieved an original modern style that has been very well-received by audiences throughout Europe, the United States and South America. Since 1981, he has been working as composer, conductor and productor, becoming known for his arrangements and musical direction for acclaimed artists, recording more than 20 albums for several major labels.
He has performed in more than 30 countries, in stages like the Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Glenn Gould Studio (Toronto), Teatro de la Villa (Madrid), etc. He has written award-winnig music for the theater, ballet and feature films, with premieres in Japan, USA, Europe, Mexico and Argentina. He has written two Concerts for Bandoneรณn and Orchestra as well as orchestral pieces and has worked with several Symphonic Orchestras and chamber ensembles.


In 1990 he wrote and recorded his first CD, X-Tango, which display the essence of the "New Tango" form and intense personal emotion. As Dominique Denis described in an article for L'Express de Toronto:

"In X-Tango, composer-pianist Fernando Otero liberates the tango from the kind of rigid romanticism perpetuated in the Broadway-style productions that have become the main tango reference for so many people. Without betraying the fundamental passion of the tango, Otero pushes the boundaries of the idiom, both structural and orchestral. This allows him to convey the dichotomy at its very core – highly civilized yet somehow untamed. A courageous and mature work, X-Tango is for those who dare to follow the tango down new paths, in these post-Piazzolla years."
(Dominique Denis - L'Express de Toronto)

Sometime later he recorded the albums Revision, Solo and Escenas, in which the development of his own style appear. Recently he has recorded in New York his new album Siderata, which includes music for 2 Bandoneons, Violin, Cello, Double bass, String Orchestra and Piano.


His CDs where published at Ediciones Pentagrama
&http://laue.ethz.ch/htbin/buscar?arch=tango&busc=Fernando+Otero


Fernando Otero


143 Madison Avenue #302
New York, New York 10016
347-678-4056
USA