TOMÁS GARRIDO
Born in La Rioja, Spain, in 1955, Tomás Garrido started his musical career at the age of 14 as a pop-rock musician; at 17 he discovered classical music and from then on his professional activity has been as wide as music itself.
He first studied the double bass and the viola da gamba, participating in the experimental group GLOSA and, for more than 10 years, in a number of early music groups (SEMA, Pro Musica Antiqva de Madrid, La Folía, Quinta Pars,) with which he took part in many concerts and recordings.
He then went on to study the cello with Lluis Claret and Maria de Macedo (graduating in this instrument) and perfected his knowledge of harmony with A. Barrio, graduating in Composition and Conducting at the RCSM in Madrid.
For 8 years he was a cellist in the GRUPO CÍRCULO, especialised in contemporary music, with which he took part in the most prestigious European and American modern music festivals, in addition to a very busy recording activity.
Always interested in other kinds of music, Tomás has frequently collaborated with Flamenco and Pop-Rock groups, appearing in a number of shows and performances.
As a composer, his works have been premiered in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Strasbourg, Granada, Torino, Metz, Rome, Middleburg, New York, Cuenca, Salzburg, etc.; in 1989 a monographic concert was dedicated to his works at the X Encontres de compositors in Palma de Mallorca, performed by the Grupo Círculo, and in 1992 he was invited to conduct a concert with some of his pieces at the De Ijsbreker Center in Amsterdam; in 1996 he was a finalist at the International Composition Competition "Ad Referendum" in Montreal; in 1998 he was selected by the international jury of the SIMC (International Society of Contemporary Music) for the Manchester Festival and in 2006 he was awarded the First Prize at the International Composition Competition "Lutoslawski Awards" in Warsaw (Poland).
In the period between 1998 and 2006 he was co-artistic director and director of the Panel de Lectura at the "Encuentro de Compositores, Injuve", which takes place at the CEULAJ in Mollina, Málaga.
As a conductor and musicologist, his main interest lies in the recuperation of forgotten Spanish music of the last centuries. He has carried out the musicological research and the subsequent musical direction of the oratorios Lamentaciones de Miércoles, Jueves y Viernes Santo and Oficio y Misa de Difuntos by the Romantic Spanish composer M. Rodríguez de Ledesma, the oratorio Tobia by the XVIII century composer F. J. García Fajer, the 'melólogo' Guzmán el Bueno by the XVIII century poet-composer Tomás de Iriarte, the opera La Tarasca by A. Martín Pompey at the Festival de Otoño de Madrid 1998, the opera Le Revenant by J. M. Gomis in the Teatro de La Zarzuela in Madrid and the opera Pompeo Magno in Armenia by F. J. García Fajer, with the Orquesta del Arte Mvsico playing on original instruments, at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. He also directed a programme of XX century Spanish composers at the XV Festival Internacional de Música Contemporánea de Alicante.
He has carried out research and publications on Spanish symphonic music from the times of Goya and Isabel II, releasing, together with the Institución Fernando el Católico of Zaragoza, a small volume with the Pequeña Música Religiosa by M. Rodríguez de Ledesma; with the ICCMU-SGAE, he has published an edition of Música española para orquesta de cuerda de los siglos XVIII y XIX, the Oficio y Misa de Difuntos by M. Rodríguez de Ledesma and the operas: Le Revenant and Le diable à Séville by J. M. Gomis and Pompeo Magno en Armenia by F. J. García Fajer.
He has been invited to conduct the following orchestras: London Concertante, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, Orquesta Sinfónica de Málaga, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Coro Nacional de España, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Orquesta Filarmónica de Chestojowa (Poland), Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias and Orquesta Filarmónica de la Universitat de València.
He has also conducted a number of spanish film soundtrack, such as Acción Mutante, Cómo ser mujer y disfrutarlo, Kika, La flor de mi secreto, Carne trémula, La buena estrella, Cuernos de espuma, La fuente amarilla, El milagro de P. Tinto, Cuando vuelvas a mi lado and Novios.
Tomás is currently conductor of the Camerata del Prado.
Biography (english)