Juan Antonio Simarro

Musical education and beginnings

Although he was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands), he moved to Madrid, where he is still living, when he was 4. He started his musical education at 13, covering musical theory, chorale, music history, violoncello, Piano, harmony, contemporary harmony, improvisation, jazz and orchestra conducting.

He got a bachelor's degree in Musical Education for the Complutense University of Madrid, but in 1995 he decided to focus on music exclusively. He participated in records and tours with other artists, as well as producing their albums. At the same time, he did some musical works for Drama and TV, spots and TV shows.

In between, he already worked on his real passion: composition, conducting and performing of classical music pieces. That is, from 2006 onwards, his main activity.

Arranger and producer

He has got a wide career in these fields. He has been appointed many times as a live musician, arranger or producer for artists like Nena Daconte, Manu Tenorio, Julio Iglesias, Dúo Dinámico, Bertín Osborne and José Vélez.

Looking for his own paths in order to find and develop creativity, he funds with other partners Marditos Roedores Producciones Multimedia, in 2004. In this project, they have got their own studio, and in 2008, he funds his own musical producing company, Analógica Producciones S.L., in which he launches his first classic music album, starting his solo career.

Works for TV, cinema and drama

Throughout his large career, he has composed a great variety of musical pieces for Spanish TV programs like: Popstars, Big Brother, El programa de Ana Rosa, Dónde estás corazón, Ahora caigo, Noche de fiesta, Sabor a ti, and the spots series about the 50 years of TVE.

He has worked as well in soundtracks for the movies New Dominican Yorker (Daniel Melguiz), The land of the Lapping Death and Obsesión 42.195 (Roberto Carrasco). In 2013 he composed and directed the B.S.O. of the movie Black diamonds (written and directed by Miguel Alcantud).

He is also the music author of some Spanish short movies as La Salchicha or El niño de Alambre, and various drama projects.

Career as a classical music composer

He is frequently the composer and interpreter of his own work pieces, performing solo his piano, violoncello, violin and ukulele.

After composing some pieces and covers for different TV programs, in 2006, altogether with Javier Gúrpide, he releases his ballets El Equilibrista and La Malaventura (edited by RTVE Música recording company).

In October 1, 2013, commemorating the International Day of the Music, he releases in Minsk (Belarus) his orchestral works Cádiz, Symphonic Poem, Adagio for violin, piano and string orchestra, String Quartet no. 1, piano duos and solos.

A great variety of orchestras could enjoy Simarro's talent: City of Praga Symphony Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Lviv Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine), Belarusian Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra, Neotonarte Cord Orchestra, The Moscow State Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, Anzoátegui Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra, Nueva Espartala State (Venezuela) Symphonic Orchestra, The National Ensemble, etc. Some other artists collaborated in his masterpieces, like Iñaki Etxepare and Edith Saldaña (violoncello), Ara Malikian, Jacqueline Wdderburn-Maxwell, Nazary Pylatyuk (violin), Antonio Palmer, Igor Pylatyuk, Borja Quintas and Gerardo Estrada (orchestra conducting).

He picked National Auditorium of Madrid to release most of his works, while others have been premiered or performed in auditoriums like Teatro Monumental and Sala Manuel de Falla in Madrid, Teatro Euskalduna in Bilbao, Meridian Center in Moscow, Radio Television Auditorium in Belarus, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona and Auditorium of Palma de Mallorca.

Touching other styles

His high education in the musical field let him a massive knowledge of Music in a global level, cover different styles throughout his career, some of them developed just to feel the pleasure of experimenting.

Bipolar, more or less (2012), defined as pop but born with an undetermined style, it was composed by professional musicians and the collaboration of some other renowned artists. It changed the musical concept in order to explore different sensibilities in pop field.

The single Night at the Café Montarto (2013), is a jazz piece that emerged from a piano improvisation.

He studied and developed for the movie Black Diamonds (2013), a soundtrack heavily influenced by African tribal rhythms.

Current activity

Simarro is the Artistic Director for the non-profit Spanish foundation Voces para la conciencia y el Desarrollo, whose aim is to get the sustainable development of people and nations, against poverty, being culture the inspirational source and base for social change. To support this, he carried on certain activities as philanthropic gigs and cultural workshops in developing countries.

In 2013 he premiered his first solo album, Juan Antonio Simarro, under the seal of his own music producer, Análogica Producciones S.L..

During 2013 and 2014, he toured different countries in Europe and the Americas (Madrid, Moscow, Ukraine, Belarus, US, Venezuela, etc.) There, he showed his compositions and perform some solos.

Among his masterpieces we find his passionate Cadiz, Symphonic Poem, recalling an unequivocal Spanish sound, and his intense and romantic Adagio for violin, piano and orchestra. In 2015 he will attend to an unavoidable date with the Salzburg Festival, in Austria.

Albums

Singles

Multimedia works