FABIO BANEGAS

One of Fabio Banegas’ earliest musical memories finds him at age four accompanying his mother to the home of a friend who had two daughters.  As one of them sat down and played the piano, the sound had an almost surreal emotional effect that moved him to tears.  That moment sparked his passion for the instrument and centered the Czech-Argentine born musician’s sensibilities on sharing the profound joys of classical music throughout his life and prolific career as a performing and a world-premiere recording artist.  His commitment to his art is rooted in a singular, deeply generous and altruistic mission: “I have never cared to serve myself with the music; but rather, I have dedicated myself to serving the music with my talent.”

While Banegas’ years of classical training naturally included mastering pieces by the likes of Bach, Chopin, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, he developed an even greater affinity for the works of lesser-known greats like French Post Romantic composer César Franck (1822-1890) and the music of unjustly neglected composers from his native Argentina. 

Rather than take the more traditional commercial road of playing works by mainstream European icons, the pianist has devoted his career to artfully preserving and celebrating the music of Nicolás Alfredo Alessio (1919-1985), Eduardo Grau (1919-2006), Jacobo Ficher (1896-1978) and, most notably, José Antonio Bottiroli (1920-1990), who like Banegas was a native of Rosario and mentored the young pianist for many years later in his life.   

Banegas’ recent recordings include César Franck, a CD released in 2022 by Guild Music of the UK in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine under the direction of Francisco Varela.  Here he excelled as a soloist in one of the few recordings in recent history where a pianist interpreted Franck’s two main works for piano and orchestra: Symphonic Poem “Les Djins” and Symphonic Variations. The collection was considered the best symphonic album by Audio Magazine, Germany. 

In 2023, the pianist marked the world premiere release by Naxos Records of works by Spanish-Argentine composer Eduardo Grau featuring Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra, also conducted by Varela. On this record, entitled Concertos for Soloists and String Orchestra, Banegas collaborated with leading soloists of international fame from Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Spain, including Spanish violinist Ana María Valderrama and violist David Fons and Czech flutist Jana Jarkovská.  Concertos for Soloists and String Orchestra earned Banegas and Valderrama a nomination for Best Contemporary Work at the first ever edition of the Academy of Music of Spain.

Banegas’ ongoing love and respect for the rich, colorful and voluminous compositions of José Antonio Bottiroli has inspired the release of three epic world premiere recordings over the past few years on Grand Piano, the specialist piano label distributed by Hong Kong based Naxos Records.  Each thoughtfully and sensitively curated collection celebrates a different aspect and aesthetic in the composer’s vast repertoire.  Launched in 2020 with Bottiroli: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 – Waltzes, the series includes Bottiroli: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 2 - Nocturnes (2021) and Bottiroli: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 3 – Elegies. The Nocturnes recording includes a suite titled “Five Piano Replies” that connects the composer’s music with his beautiful poetry, which is read by renowned stage and screen actor and human rights activist George Takei.

Banegas’ final world premiere Bottiroli recording will include the composer’s remaining pieces. including the 19 solo piano tracks and one featuring Banegas as soloist with the Brno Philharmonic from the Czech Republic under the direction of Argentine conductor Francisco Varela. 

The album contains other works related to the piano. Five of the tracks will involve compositions for two pianos which were recorded by the internationally award-winning piano duo Antón and Maïte (Maite León and Antón Dolgov) from Spain, who currently reside in Gratz, Austria and are regarded as one of the most prominent piano duos of their generation. There will also be a piano and flute piece interpreted by the celebrated Czech Duo Du Rêve formed by flutist Jana Jarkovská and pianist Bohumír Stehlík.  As the program comprises works inspired by Bottiroli’s memories and impressions, the recording will be entitled Mementos, thus bringing to a conclusion the previous volumes: Waltzes, Nocturnes and Elegies. 

The Los Angeles based Banegas’ journey to recording his mentor’s great body of work began in 2011, when he began archiving Bottiroli’s works with the help of Argentine musicologist Diego Orellana who lives in Belgium.

When Banegas returned in 2011 from a concert tour in Europe where he performed a program dedicated to renowned and semi-unknown Czech composers –as part of his desire to pay homage his Czech heritage— he felt that his next project should be to catalogue, publish and record Bottiroli’s complete piano works.  “It became a duty,” Banegas says. “Having had direct contact with the composer for so many years put me in the rare position and gave me the confidence that I could convey the most approximate reference to his compositions as he intended.”

“I returned home to the U.S. and thought deeply about what my next project could be,” he adds. “I had started to play Bottiroli again from manuscripts of his that I had kept.  Bottiroli and his works had been with me since I was a teenager, with the possible exception of my mother, he had, in many ways, accompanied me more than any other person throughout my life.”

Banegas set forth in motion a plan to “rescue” and stabilize the manuscripts that had been untouched since Bottiroli’s death in 1990.  He digitized and then transcribed them into printable versions that could be used for publication, bringing the music from rough manuscript form to presentable printable editions.

Once he had created the first edition in two volumes of Bottiroli’s piano works and secured their publishing by Publisher Golden River Music in Europe, the pianist recorded the waltzes.  Orellana chose and sent three of Banegas’ interpretation of Bottiroli’s waltzes to the German division of Naxos Records. The Grand Piano label agreed to release the volume of waltzes and asked Banegas to record Bottiroli’s complete catalogue.  

The recording of these four magnificent volumes is the culmination of the student-teacher relationship Banegas had with Bottiroli in the six years before the composer’s passing.  Bottiroli was the Dean of the Normal School of Teachers No. 3 in Rosario where Banegas’ father was a student. When Banegas’ father celebrated the 25th anniversary of his graduation from the Normal No. 3, the composer, who had long retired, was invited to give a lecture.  After Banegas met Bottiroli at the event’s reception, the composer invited him to play for him and promptly accepted the young pianist as a student.

“One day I went to my piano lesson and he was playing a beautiful piece I had never heard before,” Banegas says. “He said it was one of his works and if I liked it, he would make me a copy for me, which was when I first encountered his music. Over the years, Bottiroli taught me traditional classics like Clementi and Beethoven’s sonatas, waltzes by Chopin and pieces by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. But I had also developed a special affinity for Bottiroli’s music which has lasted until today.”

As a soloist, Banegas has performed with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine, the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra of Budapest, the San Martin Symphony Orchestra of Argentina, the Claremont Symphony and the Fullerton Symphony in the United States.  He earned two academic degrees in music at the National University of Rosario (UNR), Argentina and a Masters of Music at California State University Fullerton (CSUF).  In his academic career, Banegas served as an assistant to Professor Ana Maria Cue at the School of Music of the National University of Rosario (UNR). 

Adding to the 2023 Outstanding Achievement “Instrumentalist” Award of the Global Music Award and the nomination to the “Best Contemporary Work” in the first ever edition of the Academy of Music of Spain, Banegas already has an impressive list of accolades, such as: the Friends of the Arts of Rosario Award and the Mozarteum Santa Fe Music Award from Argentina, and the Redfield Award of the Orange County Philharmonic Society and the Phi Beta Delta Internationalist Award in the U.S.

As a music editor, Banegas has published first editions for Golden River Music and Euprint.

He also studied journalism at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and has appeared as a pianist in several Hollywood film productions.