About

Santiago Quintans is a composer/guitarist active in the fields of contemporary music and Jazz. His music and research focus on the relationship between the electric guitar, improvisation, and new digital tools of sound transformation. His work evokes a new conception of musical materials based on the formal properties of sound masses and their motion in a given space. Coming from a Jazz/improvisational background, the relationship between body gestures and musical structure is at the core of his compositional approach

A native of Vigo, Spain (1975), Santiago holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Guitar and a Master’s Degree from the University of Miami (USA) as well as a Master’s Degree in Musicology (focusing on the digital treatment of the electric guitar) from Université Paris 8 (France). In 2004 he moves to Paris and becomes an active member of the new music/improvisation scene. He has written music for contemporary music ensembles, dance companies and as a performer he has worked with some of today’s leading figures in Jazz and contemporary music (Kenny Wheeler, Tony Malaby, Paul Rogers, Maria Schneider, Daniel Humair). He has performed emblematic pieces such as Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, orchestral contemporary works such as Peter Eötvös "Seven" and has appeared internationally in Festivals such as Europa Jazz, Montreux or Imaxinasons.

His research work on the electric guitar has been widely published (Journal of Interdisciplinary Music Studies (JIMS), Appareil, Espacio Sonoro), and he’s often invited to give lectures in Europe and America. He’s a Jazz faculty member at the Conservatoire Nationale de Musique et Danse de Paris, in Paris.