BOTTIROLI, JOSÉ ANTONIO (1920–1990)

Classical pianist, music scholar and editor, Fabio Banegas, has appeared in recitals and as soloist in the United States, Europe and in his native Argentina. He studied at the National University of Rosario (UNR) where he obtained two degrees: Piano Performance and the National Professorate of Music. He continued his education in the United States earning a Master of Music (MM) at California State University Fullerton (CSUF) under Dr Susan Svrček. Fabio Banegas is an interpreter of the complete piano works by the Argentinean composer José Antonio Bottiroli, of whom he was a student, and has given world premières of many of the composer’s works. He is a recipient of many awards, most notably, from Argentina, the Friends of the Arts of Rosario Award and the Mozarteum Santa Fe Music Award; and from the US, the Redfield Award of the Orange County Philharmonic Society and the Phi Beta Delta Internationalist Award.

José Antonio Bottiroli’s music emerged in stark contrast within the Argentinean classical landscape created by his predecessors, as he did not find inspiration in folklore and native dances. He also diverged from the modernist and avant-garde musical aesthetic adopted by many of his contemporaries. Instead, he found in the short musical forms of Romanticism the ideal medium for his expression, which he infused with diverse moods, extreme subjectivism, intimacy and his own real-life experiences.