Santiago Alvarez

The Buenos Aires-born musician belongs to a new generation of young chromatic players who are not only giving the harmonica a firm place in Argentinian music, but are also helping it to regain its own sound. His playing is characterised by lightness and respect for the origins of traditional Argentinian music.
Alvarez studied chromatic harmonica with Franco Luciani and has been revitalising the folkloric music of his homeland with the Tanino Duo and Trio Argento since 2010. His first solo album was released in 2019. In ‘Domingo’, he combines urban tango with chamamé, the music of the Argentinian coast. Santiago Alvarez is a harmonica lecturer specialising in folklore at the School of Popular Music (EMPA) and has been teaching the history of tango and Argentinian folk music since 2014.

By the way: If you would like to learn from and with Santiago Alvarez, take a look at the harmonica school berlin website. There you will find the wonderful video course ARGENTINE HARMONICA in which Santiago Alvarez guides you step by step through beautiful Argentinian songs and explains what makes the Argentinian way of playing so special.