GONZALO GRAU (BIO)

…comes from a very strong musical legacy. He began his musical studies at the age of five in Caracas, developing skills in many instruments from the viola da gamba to the flamenco cajón and many keys in between. He has recorded over fifty CDs and on a diversity of styles and instruments, performing, producing, and composing, Gonzalo Grau bridges both classical and popular music worlds.

In 1995, Gonzalo was awarded with a scholarship at Berklee College of Music, where he graduated in 1998 with the mention Summa Cum Laude as a Piano Performance Major. Since then he has collaborated with many projects and ensembles in traditional and contemporary Latin styles.   But Gonzalo not only performs, he also produces and arranges for a variety of national and international artists such as Sally Potter Films, Mango Blue, Edwin Pabón, Brass Roots, Saxomanía, and leads his own band named La Clave Secreta (formerly known as "La Timba Loca").

He has also been part of vanguard Venezuelan projects like Maroa, Aquiles Baez Group and the Gonzalo Grau Quintet as well as the US based Maria Schneider Orchestra (Grammy Winner 2005) and Timbalaye on the Latin jazz front.

In the last ten years, Gonzalo made his way into flamenco as a multi-instrumentalist on percussion, cello and piano. He has worked with renowned artists from Spain and the US such as Antonio Granjero, La Tania, La Conja, Pedro Cortés, Jesus Montoya, Edwin Aparicio, Chuscales, Omayra Amaya, and Alejandro Granados.
Wearing his classical hat Gonzalo has collaborated with Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov in the writing of "La Pasión Según San Marcos" (2001 Grammy Award nominee), the "Ainadamar" opera (2007 Grammy Award winner) and in 2005 he composed and orchestrated for the Albuquerque Symphonic Orchestra, commissioned by the National Institute of Flamenco.

His contributions to film include an arrangement of “El Carretero” for Sally Potter’s 2004 Yes and in the theatrical realm he composed and musically directed "Landscapes and Impressions" by Craig Strong and Robert Castro and produced by the Santa Fe Opera.

Speaker of many musical languages, translator of many styles and creator of new fusions-Gonzalo Grau, the secret is out.