Raul Jaurena, bandoneón Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Mr. Jaurena studied bandoneon with his father from a very early age, performing with a children’s tango orchestra at the age of eight.  When only 15 years old, he became a member of the popular Donato Raciatti Orchestra of Uruguay.  He graduated with honors from the National Conservatory of Uruguay, where he composed his own work for bandoneon for the Symphony of Montevideo.  Mr. Jaurena has accompanied some of tango’s most prominent singers, notably Roberto Goyeneche, Edmundo Rivero, Agustin Irusta, among others.    He spent many years performing throughout Latin America, specifically in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, and Mexico.  In Brazil, he recorded for RCA Victor, and in Mexico he performed for Televisa. In Venezuela, he performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and presented his own work, Motivos de Tango, with the National Philharmonic of Venezuela.  In Brazil and France he recorded for films.  In the United States since 1988, Mr. Jaurena has led his own group in performances at the Lincoln Center, American Music Theater Festival, and the Ethnic and Folk Music Festival in Washington, DC.  He has performed with Astor Piazzolla’s Sextet at the Montreal Jazz Festival and on his own with the Faculty of Music at the University of Montreal. For the past five years, he has performed at the Stanford University Tango Workshop, a popular event for tango dancers throughout the United States.  In 1995, Mr. Jaurena released a recording, Cabarute, with the New York Tango Trio and, in 1997, as the Music Director of Tango Mundo, he performed in Berlin.  Currently, he is the Director of the acclaimed tango group, New York Buenos Aires Connection, which toured Europe and Russia in 1996 with the Irene Hultman Dance Company.  He has recorded with Brazilian singer Ana Caram for Chesky Records and with Paquito d’Rivera for Messidor Records.   With the rise of the bandoneon on the concert and recording scene and the renewed interest in the tango-based music of Piazzolla, Jaurena’s talent has become eagerly sought after.  He recently performed with Yo-Yo Ma in Boston, with the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and with the Hollywood Bowl Philharmonic among others.  This is Jaurena’s 10th performance with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra.

Daniel Binelli, bandoneón Internationally renowned composer, arranger and master of the bandoneon, Argentine Daniel Binelli has toured extensively in concert and recitals.  Binelli is also widely acclaimed as the torchbearer of the music of Astor Piazzolla, after having toured internationally with Astor Piazzolla´s New Tango Sextet in 1989.  His recent collaborations include performances with pianist Polly Ferman and guitarist Eduardo Isaac.    Binelli has appeared as a guest soloist with some of the most prestigious symphony orchestras in the world, including the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Sidney Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, and the Saint Petersburg Symphony Orchestra (Russia). He has worked closely with many well known conductors, such as Charles Dutoit, Lalo Schiffrin, Franz Paul Decker, Robert Spano JoAnn Faletta, and Giselle Ben Dor, Isaiah Jackson, Michael Christie, Lior Shambadal and Daniel Schweitzer. In Sicily, Binelli conducted Piazzolla´s operita, María de Buenos Aires with famed Italian singer, Milva.   He has been the Musical Director of the Tango Metropolis Company, recently featured in a PBS documentary, Tango the Spirit of Argentina, and in a BBC documentary on Astor Piazzolla’s life.    A versatile and talented composer in his own right, Binelli has created and arranged music for solo instruments, quintet, chamber and symphonic orchestras, dance and film music, and composed three original concertos (one for bandoneón, one for piano and another for guitar and symphonic orchestra).  His original work, which was commissioned by the Utah State University,  Homage to Tango, a concerto for piano, bandoneon and orchestra,  was premiered in March 2008.  He has arranged music and composed original scores for the Zurich Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, Montevideo Philharmonic, Colombia Symphony, and Buglisi-Foreman Dance Company, the Osvaldo Pugliese Orquesta Tipica (Argentina) and Tango 7 (Switzerland).  In Argentina, he wrote music for three films: India Pravile, Funes un Gran Amor, and Tango Baile Nuestro.  This is Binelli’s first appearance with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra.    .

Octavio Brunetti, piano Octavio Brunetti was born in Rosario, Argentina in 1975. He started his musical studies at the Municipal Music School in Rosario and graduated from both The National School of Music and the Pedagogical Institute of  Music, preparing him to become a piano teacher. He also studied piano and chamber music in Buenos Aires with Alicia Belleville. In 2004, he won the New York City International Tango Competition Award for Best Solo Pianist and Best Duo (Brunetti – Monk).   From 2001 – 200, he was the pianist and conductor of the Provincial Orchestra of Popular Music in Cordoba, Argentina. In 2003, when the famous bandoneón player, Osvaldo Piro, became the conductor, Octavio remained as the assistant conductor and principal arranger.  He has recorded tangos, among which the most notable are “Inquietudes” (Omar Torres Quintet), “Saludos” (Domingo Federico’s Orchestra), and “Tierra y Asfalto” (Brunetti – Carballo). In 2000, he was the pianist with the World Tango Orchestra, conducted by Rodolfo Mederos. He has played at such notable venues, such as the Teatro Colon (Mozarteum Series 1995), Teatro San Martin in Cordoba, “El Circulo” theater in Rosario, Auditorio Astengo in Rosario, Lincoln Center in New York City, at the Tango and Malambo Festival in Santa Barbara,California, the Granada Festival in Spain, the World Music Festival in Providence, Rhode Island, and the Boston Tango Festival.  He has toured in Germany, Holland, Switzerland

Nelson Pino, singer   Nelson Pino, born in Uruguay, grew up surrounded by tango music as he listened to his father playing the bandoneón. He started studying voice as a teenager and from 1981 to 1985 he performed in the popular “Café Concert” television show on Uruguayan public television.  After performing for several years in popular tango clubs and theatres throughout Montevideo and Buenos Aires, in 1996, he was invited to participate in the World International Tango Festival which took place that year in Montevideo.  Mr. Pino is known today as one of the most popular tango singers in his country, having performed regularly at Teatro Solis, Teatro de la Alianza Uruguay-US, Fun Fun,  El Hacha, among others. Since 1991, Mr. Pino has toured Canada, the U.S. and Japan with some of the best tango orchestras in the world (i.e., Toto D’amario, Antonio Cervino, Donato Raciatti and Cesar Zagnoli).   In April 2008, Maestro Buslje invited Mr. Pino to perform with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra along with Grammy Award winner, Raul Jaurena on bandoneon.  After this successful Washington debut, he was chosen as the principal male vocalist at the Gala Hispanic Theatre’s production of Boleros and Blues, a musical depiction of the life of bolero composer, Agustin Lara.  He received accolades from the Washington Post arts critics and was featured on the television show “Around Town” (WETA Public Television).  This is Nelson Pino’s second appearance with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra.

Marga Mitchell, singer

A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Ms. Mitchell studied voice in Rome, Italy.  She is an accomplished singer of tango and Latin American song, with an active performance schedule both in the United States and abroad.  She has participated in shows at Midnight Summer Night at Lincoln Center, Tango Fest Broadway, the Ravinia Festival, and the International Tango Festival in Montevideo, Uruguay.  In 1999, she sang at the United States White House with the Quintango tango ensemble and tango enthusiast, Robert Duval.  In February 1999, she was invited to sing with the Vienna Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.  She also performed at the 1st International Festival at the Teatro de San Martin in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Sttutgart, Germany, the Tango Five Ensemble of Germany, and the Richmond (Virginia) Symphony Orchestra.  She sang the national anthem of Venezuela at Shea Stadium in New York and performed at the Buenos Aires Festival at the New York World Financial Center. She has two tango recordings: one arranged and produced by Raul Jaurena; and the other produced by Bauer Studios of Germany.  This is her 4th performance with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra.

Bruno Cavallaro, violin   Cavallaro started studying music formally when he was 15 years old and two years later after an intensive audition, he was chosen by Maestro Lysy to study violin at the Music Center Lysy in Carilo, Buenos Aires.  A few years later, Cavallaro decided to immerse himself in popular music, including tango.  He joined the Tango y Punto tango orchestra and performed in major concert halls in Mendoza, Argentina and Santiago, Viña del Mar, Valparaiso, Chile.  In 2000, Cavallaro joined the youth sextet, Fusion Mendoza, an ensemble that played only Astor Piazzolla’s music.  At the same time he performed regularly with the Municipal Orchestra of Mendoza.  The following year, Cavallaro formed his own string quartet, Rabel, which performed in Mendoza, Buenos Aires, and Rioja, Argentina, and participated in the Festival of International Music in Buenos Aires.  Cavallaro’s  dedication to the music of Astor Piazzolla paid off when in 2003 he was chosen as the first violin in the show Maria de Buenos Aires, a musical composed by Piazzolla.  This 2003 performance at the Teatro Independencia in Buenos Aires was sponsored by the Astor Piazzolla Foundation and hosted by Piazzolla’s wife, Laura Escalada de Piazzolla.  By the next year, Cavallaro was directing, arranging, and performing with his newly-formed quintet, Bando, an ensemble dedicated to interpreting the music of Piazzolla.  Bando twice toured to the US, performing in New York, Chicago, and Washington, DC, the latter with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra at the Lisner Auditorium and the Embassy of Argentina.  Only two years after forming Bando¸ Cavallaro decided to disband the group so that he could dedicate his time to composing music.  Within only a few months, he again formed a new group, this time a trio, consisting of talented cellist, Juan Ignacio Emme and pianist, Marcelo Ayub.  Shortly thereafter, Juan Pablo Jofre joined them as the bandoneon player and in late 2007 Pablo Cafici, as pianist, replacing Ayub (who joined the Teatro Colon Opera).  This new quartet not only performs works of Astor Piazzolla but also original pieces composed by Bruno.  Last year, the Bruno Cavallaro Quartet recorded an album, City Madness (Ciudadana Locura), featuring works composed and arranged by Cavallaro.

Juan Emilio Cucchiarelli, piano   Juan Emilio was born in Mendoza, Argentina and when he was only seven years old, he started studying piano.  Over the next few years, he took up jazz and popular music in addition to his classical training. In 2004, he participated in the First Festival of Young Musicians in Mendoza where he was given a special award. He has a degree in Music from the School of Niños Cantores in Mendoza, where he specialized in piano and chorus. In that same year, he became a member of the rock band Pario la Choca which won an award in 2005 for Best Band of Mendoza.  Shortly thereafter, he devoted himself to tango, jazz and folkloric music. In 2007 he won a scholarship to study with the jazz pianist Andres Beussawert. He has recorded several CDs of jazz, folklore, rock and pop and he has toured throughout Argentina and Chile.  This is his first performance in the United States and with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra.