Singer, composer, producer, guitarist, player of charango and ronroco, discoverer of talent, director of a record label and a publishing company, GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA has been described as “visionary.” His vision, firmly connected with seeking an identity, covers his entire search, from his beginnings at 16 with the Latin American folk-rock fusion band Arco Iris, to a solo career that includes three albums through 2002, when Santaolalla combined his talents as producer, performer, and composer in the collective Bajofondo.

As a producer, he has worked with Leon Gieco, G.I.T., Divididos, Maldita Vecindad, and Café Tacuba. In 1997, along with his partner Aníbal Kerpel, he established his own record label, SURCO, whose first release was the Mexican band Molotov, an international success selling around 2,000,000 copies. With Café de los Maestros, the double album that brings together the most significant living legends of tango, Santaolalla won two Grammys.

As a film composer, he has worked on films by Ang Lee, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Walter Salles. His scores can be heard on 21 Grams, Motorcycle Diaries, Tierra Fría, Brokeback Mountain, and Babel. Among Santaolalla’s numerous awards and distinctions are the Premio Gardel, the Konex de Platino, Personalidad del Año (CAPIF), and multiple Grammys in various categories.