Faculty

Our dedicated team of talented professionals is here to make your experience a memorable one.

JULIÁN PERALTA

HEAD INSTRUCTOR

Pianist and composer Julián Peralta is an iconic figure of contemporary tango. In addition to his musical activity, which includes having created and directed the Orquesta Típica Fernández Fierro, he is also a successful manager and entrepreneur responsible for such projects as La Maquina Tanguera, CAFF and the Teatro Orlando Goñi, among others.

Pianist and composer Julián Peralta is an iconic figure of contemporary tango. In addition to his musical activity, which includes having created and directed the Orquesta Típica Fernández Fierro, he is also a successful manager and entrepreneur responsible for such projects as La Maquina Tanguera, CAFF and the Teatro Orlando Goñi, among others.

A passionate pedagogue, he lectures on tango musical techniques at the Escuela de Música Popular de Avellaneda and La Escuela Orlando Goñi (both in Argentina).

He is also the author of “the book” on tango arranging and orchestration: La Orquesta Típica. Mecánica y aplicación de los fundamentos técnicos del Tango. (The Tango Orchestra: Fundamental Concepts and Techniques.)

His compositions, which include orchestral works, have allowed him to travel the world’s most prestigious stages including the Barbican Centre (London), Prague State Opera (Czech Republic) and the Viena Konzerthaus (Austria). In 2010 he performed his original score for Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in a version produced by British actor Kenneth Branagh in London.

Today, he continues to develop his artistic activities as the leader of the Orquesta Típica Julián Peralta and his group Astillero.

CHRISTINE BREBES

STRINGS

My love of tango started with Astor Piazzolla in 1998. Since then, I have traveled far and wide to search out my own of this musical world. In Kansas City, Beau Bledsoe and I started off this journey by transcribing Piazzolla and old Gardel tangos and performing them in Duo Lorca. Tango Lorca was born in late 1999, and we still enjoy getting together to play when we are together.

I moved to Buenos Aires in 2002 to play in La Orquesta Escuela de Tango, led by the most talented Emilio Balcarce. We learned lots of styles from the living masters of tango that still graced us with their presence. We played in Teatro Colon. We recorded. It was a magical time. Since then, I have traveled to play tango in Japan, Italy, England and the US. I’ve played in orquesta tipicas with Julian Plaza, Victor Lavallen, Sexteto Mayor, musicians that played with Miguel Calo (La Orquesta Tipica Sans Souci). I’ve had the pleasure of playing in the touring tango shows: Tango Dreams, Tango x 2 de Miguel Angel Zotto, and Roberto Herrera & Compañia. I’ve recorded with quite a lot of tango musicians, all of whom I deeply admire and respect. I enjoy teaching different tango techniques to visitors who make the same pilgrimage as I have. I’ve also taught some tango master classes in Los Angeles. I am so looking forward to bringing all this back with me to share with all of you! If you would like to see a bit about my life here in Buenos Aires, I’d love to share this video with you that was recorded as part of a series on public television called Tango y La Ciudad (Tango and The City).

HUGO SATORRE

BANDONEÓN

A teacher and performer on the bandoneon, Hugo Satorre has performed throughout the world: the Sydney Opera House (Australia), the Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles, USA), the Shanghai Oriental Art Center (Shanghai, China). In March 2012 he accompanied Tenor Placido Domingo on a stage set up in Buenos Aires in front of 120,000 people.

In 2016 Sattore released his first solo bandoneon album.  He is part of the 2013 Latin Grammy nominee “Duo Ramírez-Satorre”.  He was a member of some of the best-selling tango recording ensembles in the last 20 years: Otros Aires, Tanghetto, La Tubatango and the tango company “Tango Fire”.  In 2018 he finished his undergraduate course in Argentine Music at Universidad de San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

CHARLES GORCYNSKI

BANDONEÓN

Minneapolis-based composer and bandoneonist Charles Gorczynski works in contemporary tango, new music, and studio production. He leads the acclaimed modern tango outfits Charles Gorczynski Tango Quartet and Redwood Tango Ensemble, and is the director of the Twin Cities Tango Collective.

A teacher and performer on the bandoneon, Hugo Satorre has performed throughout the world: the Sydney Opera House (Australia), the Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles, USA), the Shanghai Oriental Art Center (Shanghai, China). In March 2012 he accompanied Tenor Placido Domingo on a stage set up in Buenos Aires in front of 120,000 people.

In 2016 Sattore released his first solo bandoneon album.  He is part of the 2013 Latin Grammy nominee “Duo Ramírez-Satorre”.  He was a member of some of the best-selling tango recording ensembles in the last 20 years: Otros Aires, Tanghetto, La Tubatango and the tango company “Tango Fire”.  In 2018 he finished his undergraduate course in Argentine Music at Universidad de San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Charles is a deeply established musician and community organizer with a distinct voice in creative new music, stemming from his upbringing in jazz/improvised music and decades of tango composition and performance. His projects Redwood Tango Ensemble and Colorlist have toured North America and Europe extensively, playing hundreds of performances annually and producing four albums of original contemporary tango music. Charles has premiered his compositions with Chamber Music Northwest Festival and the San Francisco International Arts Festival, worked with the Buenos Aires-based Tango Sin Fin organization for their programs with Reed College, and is regularly commissioned for new works for tango chamber ensemble. As bandoneonist he has worked with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Chorale, the California Symphony, Vocal Essence at Orchestra Hall, Mason Bates’ Mercury Soul Orchestra, and many other orchestral and chamber music organizations. Charles has recorded and toured with international tango projects, including Mariano Barreiro Tango Trio, Tango BC Quartet, Alejandro Ziegler Cuarteto, Maxi Larrea Trio, Maldito Tango, and Los Tangueros Del Oeste. On the production side, Charles is a Latin Grammy-nominated mixing engineer who has produced and contributed to more than 100 albums. He licenses and composes bespoke music for various media, and has worked with record labels Serein Records, Ropeadope, 482 Music, Front Forty Press. Charles manages Caverns Records as a hub for his own music, a small label to cultivate and catalog new visions of instrumental music with no stylistic restriction.

LAURA CAMACHO

BASS

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, I specialize in classical and tango music performance, and their sub-genres. My recordings include contemporary Argentine music, Stravinsky’s music for the Naxos label, contemporary Latin Jazz, and Athens Tango Project’s “Para Compartir”

In addition to my conservatory (M.De Falla-Buenos Aires), college, and grad school music degrees (University of Georgia ), I’ve been lucky enough to take tango bass classes with Horacio Cabarcos, folklore music with Juan Falú, and music theory with Roque De Pedro. I’ve shared the stage with artists like Mariano Mores, Pablo Agri, Horacio Romo, Julián Peralta, Sexteto Mayor, and Bela Fleck. I’m the founder and Music Director of Athens Tango Project, which in parallel to functioning as my creative tango sandbox and winning local awards, serves as a professional training ensemble for graduate students and local musicians in the Athens/Atlanta/Augusta GA area. I’ve been a guest lecturer at University of Georgia, taught master classes at Texas Tech University, and I coach bassists at the Illinois Tanguero Workshop led by Peralta himself. I also write and arrange music, record soundtracks, and perform in symphony orchestras in the South East. I am still in love with live performance; each concert is a one-of-a-kind magic experience we share as an ensamble with the audience, and there is nowhere else I’d rather be!

Maximiliano Larrea

Guitar

Maximiliano Larrea is a nationally certified classical guitarist and music educator from Rosario, Argentina. He lives in Tucson, Arizona, where he works as a tango and folk music performer, arranger, composer, and teacher.

His current musical projects include the Tango Guitar Project, and a folklore trio, El SurCo. In Argentina, he participated in many leading tango and folk music festivals, including the World Tango Festival and Championship, and the Pre-Cosquin Festival where he was recognized as a competition finalist. In Fall 2022, he was flown to Argentina to participate in the renowned World Guitar Festival, directed by legendary folklore guitarist Juan Falú. While living in Buenos Aires, Larrea performed with and directed multiple tango groups, and recorded on numerous tango albums. Internationally, he has toured in Europe, North America, and Asia. In the U.S., Larrea has directed and participated in various tango and folk music groups, worked with university tango ensembles and tango summer camps, and developed his career as a solo artist. His first album of original compositions for solo guitar, Donde Termina el Río/Where the River Ends, was released in 2020. He has been the recipient of multiple grants and awards, including an Arizona Commission on the Arts grant in 2021 to publish a book of solo arrangements for beginning/intermediate tango guitar, and a prestigious Master Artist Award from the Southwest Folklife Alliance in 2023. When not composing, arranging, or performing, Larrea runs a home studio where he teaches classical and popular guitar styles to local and international students of all ages and skill levels.