Diego Navarro

Born in Tenerife in 1972, Diego Navarro performs his first composition at the age of 13 and at 21 he conducts an orchestra for the first time. After some self-taught years in guitar and piano, he starts his official studies in Santa Cruz de Tenerife´s Higher Conservatoire. After three years, he begins his studies with David Goldsmith and the Trinity College of London, obtaining the highest grades in his piano exams. In 1996, the Berklee College of Music grants him the “Outstanding Musicianship Award” together with a scholarship given by the Composition Department. In December 2000 he passes the Advanced Certificate in Piano with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
Navarro, musician of great classical background and versatility, combines composition for concerts and film scoring, He scores, orchestrates and conducts his music. His job has been appraised and highly recommended by famous orchestra conductors such as Peter Maag, Antoni Ros Marbá and prestigious musicians like David Paul Martin, Ray Santisi, etc.
In 2002, Navarro composed, orchestrated and conducted the original soundtrack of Puerta del Tiempo (Time Gate), a cartoon feature film based on the drawings of Spain's most respected and prestigious illustrator and cartoonist: Antonio Mingote. Navarro has personally taken care of the whole musical production, making the most ambitious original soundtrack ever recorded in Spain, with 130 professionals. Navarro has made a new breach in film score recording in Spain. This work, edited by Filmscore, was a candidate for the 8th edition of the Music Awards (SGAE-SPAIN) in the category of “Best Film Score Album”, given by he Spanish Music Academy. He has obtained good critics and reviews in national and international press, including prestigious magazine Film Score Monthly.
In March 2004, during the 6th Film and Audiovisual Production Conference in the Canary Islands (Spain), he is granted an award (Guanche de Cine) for the composition of “Time Gate” and as a recognition of his career.
In 2005 he worked for an Italian-Spanish co-production of Columbia Pictures-Sony. He also composed, orchestrated and produced the original music for the documentary film Mira la luna (Look at the moon), directed by Eduard Bosch and produced by prestigious Elias Querejeta. It was filmed in the United States and narrates the life of the astronaut Miguel López Alegría before and after a mission to space with the Endeavour space shuttle.
In 2005 Diego Navarro and his friend and clarinettist Michael G. Kirby create a new project, devoted to the recording of film soundtracks with a new symphony orchestra formed by professionals and prestigious musicians: The Tenerife Film Orchestra & Choir (TFO & CHOIR). This is the first time a Spanish orchestra officially becomes part of the film industry. He is the Artistic Director and Recording Producer of the orchestra.
Diego Navarro's biggest project in 2007 was the composition, orchestration and conducting of the musical score of Oscar. Una pasión surrealista (Oscar, the color of destiny), a biopic about the Canarian surrealist painter Oscar Dominguez. This ambitious co-production was produced and directed by Lucas Fernández. This soundtrack was recorded with the Tenerife Film Orchestra & Choir.
Besides, Navarro is the director and the father of the Tenerife International Film Music Festival (FIMUCITÉ), which started its first edition in 2007 obtaining great success (www.fimucite.com). In Fimucité 1 (2007) Diego Navarro conducted the TFO & CHOIR, performing the music of one of the guest composers: Mychael Danna. He had the honor to share the stage, during the closing concert, with Don Davis (The Matrix Trilogy, etc). In Fimucité 2 (2008) he also conducted the TFO & CHOIR playing some world premières and releases: Ironman (Djawadi), Spiderman 3 (Christopher Young), Perfume, the story of a murderer (Reinhold Heil, Johny Klimek and Tom Tykwer), a four-mouvement suite from 2001, a Space Odyssey from Alex North and other pieces from John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith.
In November 2008 he conducts the Malaga’s Symphony Orchestra at Teatro Cervantes including in his program Mira la Luna, Puerta del Tiempo and Ironman’s suite.
In early 2009 FIMUCITÉ establishes a tight collaboration with the Krakow Film Music Festival (Poland www.fmf.fm) creating the first European film music festival circuit. Navarro had the honor to be the guest conductor of the Krakow Symphony Orchestra and the Polish National Radio Choir at the Blonia Fields in Krakow with an estimated audience of 7,000 people. The main theme of the concert was Perfume, the story of a murderer, with the director Tom Tykwer’s attendance together with composers Johny Klimek and Tom Tykwer. Navarro also conducted Spiderman 3, Ironman and the Matrix Revolutions, all played in FIMUCITÉ’s past editions.
Diego Navarro is a member of the Academia de las Ciencias y Artes Cinematográficas de España (Spain’s Film Academy), the SGAE (The Spanish society of composers, authors and editors), Musimagen (Association of composers for the audiovisual), and the A.I.E. (Spanish society of artists and musicians). Navarro is currently the Canary Island's most widely known film music composer, and also one of Spain's most promising talents in Filmscoring.