Berliner Symphoniker, Omar Massa & Mark Laycock
Biography Berliner Symphoniker, Omar Massa & Mark Laycock
Omar Massa
is a bandoneon player, composer and arranger from Buenos Aires – Argentina, based in Europe since 2016. Regarded by the critics as an expert on Astor Piazzolla’s music – whose work he has interpreted from the age of six – Omar has often been the connecting bridge between classical music and Argentine tango music. He has performed and participated in projects with internationally renowned artists such as Placido Domingo, Eugene Kohn (Conductor of Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti), Bruno Delepelaire (1st Cello soloist, Berlin Philharmonic), Tomasz Tomaszewski (Concertmaster, Deutsche Oper Berlin), Máté Szücs (1st Viola soloist, Berlin Philharmonic), Markus Däunert (Concertmaster & co-founder of Claudio Abbado’s Mahler Chamber Orchestra), and Janne Saksala (1st Double Bass soloist, Berlin Philharmonic).
Omar has been a pioneer in taking his instrument to concert halls to play works from the academic repertoire, especially those from the European and Latin American Baroque. As a soloist he has performed with symphony orchestras and chamber groups like the Asturias Symphony Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, the Moldova Philharmonic Orchestra, the Biel Solothurn Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Stat Sibiu, the Brasov Philharmonic, the Kamerata Kronstadt among others. Omar has played in several important venues such as the Lincoln Center (New York), the National Concert Hall (Dublin), the Colon Theatre (Buenos Aires), the Palace of Fine Arts (Mexico DF) and the George Enescu Festival (Bucharest). As a composer he has written several works, among which his ‘Suite Patagonia’ and ‘Concertango’ were premiered in the Chamber Music Season of the Palace of Fine Arts of Mexico in 2013. Omar was nominated for the Gardel Music Awards 2014 (most important award in the recording industry in Argentina) for his CD ‘Tribute to Piazzolla’ and 25 years after Astor Piazzolla´s death (2015) his family invited him to play Piazzolla´s bandoneon. In addition to his artistic endeavours, Omar has conducted courses and masterclasses on bandoneon and on Astor Piazzolla’s music in universities around the world. His tours have been declared of ‘Cultural and Artistic importance to the country of Argentina’ by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
