Rufo Herrera

Origin

Belo Horizonte, MG

Years active

1957

Genres

contemporary classical music, tango, instrumental music

Instruments

bandoneon

Biography

Rufo Herrera is an Argentine composer, music educator, and bandoneon player who has lived in Brazil since 1963. Born in Río Primero, in the province of Córdoba, he had his first contact with the bandoneon in childhood and built a vast career connected to contemporary classical music and the Latin American musical avant-garde. He initially settled in São Paulo, where he honed his composition skills with maestro Olivier Toni, before moving to Bahia and joining the dynamic contemporary music movement alongside figures such as Lindembergue Cardoso and Walter Smetak.

Throughout his career in Brazil, Herrera became notable for creating hundreds of works, including concertos, operas, and chamber pieces, in addition to exploring popular sounds and avant-garde tangos. Based in Minas Gerais from 1976 onwards, he founded the Grupo Oficcina Multimédia and the Orquestra Ouro Preto, besides teaching for twenty-five years at the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), an institution that awarded him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa. His work also encompassed striking partnerships with theater directors and filmmakers, consolidating his prominent role in Brazilian artistic culture.