"Cimadevilla must be a careful student of Piazzolla's bandoneón technique. He has captured the ornamentation and nuanced phrasing of Piazzolla so well that I could swear it is Piazzolla himself playing at times." Piazzolla on video, 25/04/2011
"Der Dirigent des Abends Rolando Garza Rodríguez (…) leitet das kleine, mitten im Bühnenboden versenkt sitzende Orchester mit dem großartigen Bandoneon-Spezialisten Santiago Cimadevilla zu einem rhythmisch vitalen, atmosphärisch gleichwohl subtilen Klang an." Detlef Brandenburg, Deutsche Bühne online, 7. Dezember 2015 (about Maria de Buenos Aires with Theater Bremen)
Santiago Cimadevilla - bandoneonist, composer, arranger
Santiago Cimadevilla was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He played guitar from a young age and studied classical piano at the Conservatorio Municipal Manuel de Falla.
In the Netherlands he studied bandoneon at the Rotterdam Conservatory with Victor Villena and Leo Vervelde. After his graduation concert he was awarded with a prize from the Foundation Friends of the Rotterdam Conservatory for outstanding study results and artistic quality. He was also awarded with the prestigious Huygens Scholarship Programme in order to pursue a Master’s degree studying composition and arrangements with Gustavo Beytelmann.
During his studies at the Rotterdam Conservatory he was a regular member of Orquesta Tipica OTRA, for which he also wrote several original compositions and arrangements. With this orchestra he performed in most of the major concert halls in the Netherlands including the Concertgebouw and the Tropen Theater, and went often on tours to Germany, France and Belgium.
As a tango music performer he has worked with many renowned musicians and ensembles in Europe. He was asked to play with Orquesta Tipica Fernandez Fierro during their first European tour and was invited several times to perform as a special guest with tango legend Alfredo Marcucci’s Sexteto Veritango.
He has performed as a soloist several of Astor Piazzolla’s concertos for bandoneon and orchestra, such as the Concierto para Bandoneon (Aconcagua) with Liepaja’s Symphony Orchestra (Latvia) and the Doble Concierto para Bandoneon y Guitarra at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He also arranged and performed Piazzolla’s Four Seasons with the Manchester Camerata conducted by Gordan Nikolitch at the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester).
Santiago is regularly invited to perform with classical ensembles and orchestras. He has often performed Kurt Weill’s Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, with among others the Schönberg Ensemble (with Reinbert de Leeuw), the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (with Werner Herbers), and the Nationaal Jeugdorkest (with Etienne Siebens).
He has often been involved in contemporary music projects. With the Helios Ensemble conducted by Wolfgang Lange he performed Trajectoire by Daan Manneke and Magnificat by Astrid Kruisselbrink, and he also performed several works by composer Mathis Nitschke such as Jetzt (with the Orchestre National Montpellier), Gatno Tango and Waiting for the Tango.
He recently premiered Stravaganza, a double concerto for bandoneon and trumpet written by Spanish composer Carlos Pellicer.
Among his specialties in the tango field are Astor Piazzolla’s original works for quintet, which he has performed with various ensembles in the original formation as well as in his own original arrangements for orchestra, string quartets, and other ensembles.
He has also often performed Astor Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires in various productions in Germany and Austria, as well as Martin Palmeri's Misa a Buenos Aires and Luis Bacalov's Misa Tango.
Santiago founded TRASNOCHE, a new quintet with Ebred Reijnen, Elliott Muusses, Mark Wyman and Virgilio Monti for which he has composed and arranged an all-original repertoire.
Santiago is also a founding member of Splendor, the newest stage for the performing arts in Amsterdam as well as an independent collective effort of musicians, composers, writers and other artists.
He currently teaches bandoneon and ensembles at CODARTS, University of the Arts (Rotterdam Conservatory), where he is also a supervisor of artistic research in the Master of Music department.
Selected discography
With TRASNOCHE
"Tango Madrugada" (2020)
With Andre Heuvelman
"Crystal Tears" (2018)
"Aftersilence" (2013) (Bandoneon and arrangements)
With TRASNOCHE
"Live" (2012)
With Grupo del Sur
Segundo Movimiento (2011)
With Andre Heuvelman and Wilmar de Visser
“Nachtmuziek” (2010)
Soloist / composer
“La Cantante de Tango” (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2010)
With Gatno Tango (Munich)
“Gatno Tango - anthropogen gestörter wuchsplatz” (2010)
With Orquesta Tipica Tangarte (Sweden)
“Lo que vendra” (2007)
With ensemble Flautango (Bremen)
“Volumen I” (2006)
With Racing Club Tango (Holland)
“El Aguante” (2006)
With Mathis B. Nitschke
“Waiting for the Tango” (2003)
