Argentine tango: Performance and creativity across geographies - In conversation with Yuiko Asaba

"Conversation in Creative Practice” is organised by the Department of Music at SOAS University of London once a term, with the aim to invite performers and composers from diverse backgrounds for discussion about their work with SOAS faculty members.

In the next session, Latin Grammy-winning tango pianist Pablo Estigarribia , and Astor Piazzolla competition-winning bandoneón player, Yukie Kawanami will be joined in conversation with Yuiko Asaba.

This is a hybrid event, and can be joined remotely via Zoom.

About the speakers

Pablo Estigarribia is a Latin Grammy award winning tango pianist, arranger and tango composer. Like many artists of this genre, he began his training as a classical musician and soon branched out into the world of tango.

He entered the Orquesta Escuela de Tango program in 2005 in Buenos Aires, where he was trained by Tango legends such as Emilio Balcarce, Victor Lavallén, Nestor Marconi among others. After graduating, Estigarribia rapidly established himself as a nuanced and masterful tango performer, playing all over the world with different shows and tango ensembles. He has been featured in over a thousand concerts, joining Argentine tango legends like Maria Graña, Victor Lavallén, Leopoldo Federico, Nestor Marconi, Horacio Cabarcos, Emilio Balcarce and many others.

He is sought after as a tango performer internationally, including his appearances in New York´s Blue Note Jazz Club, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Moab Music Festival, Portland Tango Festival, with tour concerts undertaken across Europe and Japan.

Yukie Kawanami is the 1st prize winner of the Che Bandoneón International Competition 2015, and the 1st prize winner of Astor Piazzolla - Città di Trani 2021.

Born in Fukuoka, Japan, Kawanami graduated from the Fukuoka Jogakuin High School and studied at the Tokyo College of Music. She has since then performed the bandoneón as a soloist at the World Dance Festival at the Nippon Budokan, as well as the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan, and on theatrical stages with renowned actors including Eri Watanabe, Kenji Sawada, and Shofukutei Tsurube.

Kawanami is also known as the model on which author Naoki Oishi based his prize-winning novel "Oblivion" (Kadokawa Shoten,2006) was based. Kawanami gives concerts across Japan and internationally, including in the United States and Argentina.