Turíbio Santos

Origin

São Luís, MA

Also known as

Turíbio Soares Santos

Genres

classical music, mpb

Instruments

guitar

Biography

Turíbio Santos is a renowned Brazilian classical guitarist, composer, and musicologist, born in São Luís, Maranhão, in 1943. Growing up in a musical household where his father played the guitar as a serenade artist and his mother encouraged his formal music education, he studied under notable teachers such as Antonio Rebelo and Oscar Cáceres. During his youth, he developed a deep admiration for the compositions of Heitor Villa-Lobos, which would eventually become a defining cornerstone of his illustrious career and international acclaim.

As a young musician, Santos embarked on an extensive global career that spanned across five continents, performing a repertoire primarily focused on Brazilian music. He achieved early international recognition by winning a prestigious prize in Paris at the ORTF in 1965, subsequently receiving critical praise from prominent publications like The New York Times and Le Figaro. His association with the Villa-Lobos legacy deepened when Arminda Villa-Lobos and Herminio Bello de Carvalho invited him to record the composer's twelve studies for the Museu Villa-Lobos archives, an institution he would later direct from 1986 to 2010.

Beyond his performance and recording legacy of over seventy albums, Santos made foundational contributions to music education in Brazil by establishing the first classical guitar courses at both UFRJ and UNIRIO. In 1983, he founded the Brazilian Guitar Orchestra, further cementing his cultural impact on the nation's musical landscape. His numerous accolades include being nominated for chairs in the Brazilian Academy of Music and the Maranhão Academy of Letters, alongside prestigious honors such as the Order of the Southern Cross and the Legion of Honour.