Biography

 

Eduardo Gimenez was born on 1st July 1970 in Montevideo, Uruguay as Juan Eduardo Slekis Riffel, with grandparents of Lithuanian descent from father’s side and Argentinian grandparents from mother’s side of the family. He spent his childhood in Las Piedras, a city belonging to the metropolitan area of ​​Montevideo. At the age of two Eduardo moved to Entre Rios, Argentina.

 

  • 1976

    due to the political and financial crisis in Argentina, when General Peron died, his parents returned to Las Piedras, where Eduardo attended primary school and part of the middle school. At the age of 16, Eduardo moved back to Entre Rios, Argentina and finished 7th day Adventist School.

  • 1989

    moved to Montevideo, Uruguay and entered the University Music School in Montevideo to study the Bachelor of Vocal and Musicology.

  • 1993

    met the eminent Maestro Donato Racciatti in a concert with his full band in the "Societa Italiana" in Las Piedras. In this meeting Racciatti encouraged Eduardo to venture into the genre of tango. sang in Latin American Baroque Choir "De Profundis" directed by Cristina Garcia Banegas.

  • 1995

    sang in the Choir "Pro Opera" in the role of soloist in operas Carmen (Bizet) and Jesus Christ Super Star (Weber). He sang along with a Uruguayan Opera star Erwin Schrott.

  • 1996

    moved to Lithuania, where he got a scholarship to study singing at the Academy of Music (Lith. Muzikos Akademija) in Vilnius. His teacher was a famous Lithuanian singer Eduardas Kaniava.

  • 1997

    joined the Choir of Vilnius University (Lith. Vilniaus Universiteto Choras), directed by Rasa Gelgotiene.

  • 1998

    studied tango dance in “Club Juventud” with Alejando Marrero (Avalancha tanguera), in Las Piedras, Uruguay.

  • 1999

    sang at the prestigious German choir "Bachakademie" directed by eminent conductor Helmut Rilling. The choir consisted of selected singers under thirty from all around the globe. Recorded an album "A tango in Vilnius" with tango quartet "Tanguedia", currently known as "4 tango". Eduardo was one of the founding members of the quartet.

  • 2000

    gave a tango concert with a selection of musicians from the Opera of Chicago in "Getz" Theatre of Chicago, USA. Recorded a tango album "South" in Chicago, USA with Bruno Sauer (Brasil) and Armando Alvarez (Chile).

  • 2001

    founded "Latin Power" - the first band of Latin music in the Baltic countries.

  • 2002

    together with "Tanguedia" quartet won the 6th place out of 30 participants in an international "Astor Piazzolla Music World Competition" in Udine, Italy. Eduardo won the 1st place in a tango singer category.

  • 2005

    gave performances with "Beltango Quintet" at IV Balkan Tango Festival in Belgrade, Serbia.

  • 2006

    organized the first "Baltic Tango Festival" in the Baltic States. Since then, Eduardo and Tango Association in Vilnius organized 10 tango festivals in Lithuania. Recorded his first solo album called “Despues del Rio" (eng. “After the River”) at his home in Vilnius, Lithuania. The album was produced by Gabriel Orentas.

  • 2007

    Created the first electronic tango group in Baltic States “Tango Gatos” (eng. “Tango Cats”). Gave a Symphonic Concert with "Vojvodanski Symphonic Orchestra" and Aleksandar Nikolic in Serbia.

  • 2010

    took master tango classes with Juan Sanchez in Buenos Aires Cultural Center, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Was invited to gather a group of musicians and composers from the Nordic countries in a tango music workshop in Senajoki, Finland. Eduardo Gimenez represented Baltic countries. Other participants were Indris Svere Joner (Norway), Juan Juanjo (Argentina - Sweden), Per Tidstrand (Sweden), Johanna Juhola (Finland).

  • 2013

    recorded a compilation album “Perro Blanco” (eng. “White Dog”). The album also included several previously unrecorded songs.

  • 2014

    spent two months in his hometown in Las Piedras, Uruguay. Also took master singing classes with Pablo Lago and tango dance class with Yanina Fajar in Buenos Aires.

  • 2015

    after three years of effort Eduardo finished recording an album called "Viento" (eng. “Wind”) with a producer and musician Leon Somov, and an accordionist Nerijus Bakula. Sang in the choir “Pro Musica” conducted by Rasa Gelgotiene, and performed concerts in New York and Washington (USA). He sang as Choir Soloist.

  • 2018

    in 2018 Eduardo recorded his third album as a songwriter, "Paraiso de los Olvidados". An acoustic, reflexive album with a lot of spiritual and human content. It uses resources of its most favorite styles, tango, rock and classical music, with Latin overtones.

  • 1976

    dėl politinės ir finansinės krizės Argentinoje, po prezidento Perono mirties, Eduardo tėvai nusprendė grįžti į Las Piedras. Ten Eduardo baigė pradinę mokyklą ir pradėjo lankyti vidurinę. Būdamas šešiolikos, jis grįžo į Entre Rios, Argentiną ir baigė 7-osios Dienos Adventistų vidurinę mokyklą.

  • 1989

    grįžo į gimtąjį Montevidėjų, Urugvajų studijuoti vokalo ir muzikologijos bakalauro Universiteto Muzikos Katedroje (angl. University Music School).

  • 1993

    susipažino su didžiu Maestro Donato Racciatti jo koncerte, vykusiame "Societa Italiana" Las Piedras. Per šį susitikimą Racciatti paskatino Eduardo žengti į tango žanrą. Tais pačiais metais Eduardo pradėjo dainuoti Lotynų Amerikos baroko chore "De profundis", vadovaujamame Cristina Garcia Banegas.

  • 1995

    chore "Pro Opera" atliko solo partijas operose "Karmen" (Bizet) ir Jėzus Kristus Super Žvaigždė (Weber). Jis dainuoja kaip Solistas kartu su Erwin Schrott pasaulio Operos žvaigždė.

  • 1996

    gavo stipendiją studijuoti dainavimą Muzikos Akademijoje Vilniuje. Jis mokėsi pas garsų Lietuvos dainininką Eduardą Kaniavą.

  • 1997

    dainavo Vilniaus Universiteto chore, vadovaujamame Rasos Gelgotienės.

  • 1998

    studijavo tango šokį su Alejando Marrero (Avalancha tanguera), “Club Juventud" Las Piedras, Urugvajuje.

  • 1999

    dainavo prestižiniame vokiečių chore "Bachakademie", vadovaujamame garsaus dirigento Helmut Rilling. Chore dainavo rinktiniai atlikėjai iki trisdešimties metų iš viso pasaulio. Tais pačiais metais įrašė albumą "A tango in Vilnius" su tango kvartetu "Tanguedia" (dabar žinomu kaip "4 tango").

  • 2000

    surengė tango koncertą su muzikantais iš Čikagos operos "Getz" teatre Čikagoje, JAV. Tais pačiais metais su Bruno Sauer (Brazilija) ir Armando Alvarez (Čilė) įrašė tango albumą "South" Čikagoje, JAV.

  • 2001

    įkūrė "Latin Power" - pirmą Lotynų Amerikos muzikos grupę Baltijos šalyse.

  • 2002

    su kvartetu “Tanguedia” laimėjo 6-ąją vietą tarptautiniame Astoro Piazzollos Muzikos Pasaulio Konkurse (angl. Astor Piazzolla Music World Competition) Udine, Italijoje. Eduardo laimėjo pirmąją vietą tango dainininko kategorijoje.

  • 2005

    pasirodė su kvintetu "Beltango Quintet" ketvirtajame Balkanų Tango Festivalyje (angl. Balkan Tango Festival) Belgrade, Serbijoje.

  • 2006

    surengė pirmąjį Baltijos Tango Festivalį (angl. Baltic Tango Festival) Baltijos šalyse. Tradiciniu tapęs festivalis kitais metais minės savo dešimtasias metines. Tais pačiais metais Eduardo savo namuose įrašė pirmąjį solinį albumą “Despues del Rio" (liet. Po Upės), prodiusuotą Gabriel Orentas.

  • 2007

    įkūrė pirmąją elektroninio tango muzikos grupę Baltijos šalyse "Tango Gatos" (liet. Tango Katinai). Tais pačiais metais dalyvavo simfoniniame koncerte su Vojvodanski Simfoniniu Orkestru ir Aleksandar Nikolic Serbijoje.

  • 2010

    lankė tango meistriškumo pamokas su Juan Sanchez Buenos Aires Kultūriniame Centre Argentinoje. Tais pačiais metais Eduardo buvo pakviestas į tango muzikos dirbtuves Senajoki, Suomijoje kartu su muzikantais ir kompozitoriais iš Šiaurės šalių.

  • 2013

    įrašė rinktinių ir anksčiau neįrašytų dainų albumą "Perro Blanco" (liet. Baltas Šuo).

  • 2014

    praleido du mėnesius gimtajame Las Piedras mieste, Urugvajuje. Lankė dainavimo meistriškumo pamokas su Pablo Lago ir tango šokio pamokas su Yanina Fajar Buenos Aires, Argentinoje.

  • 2015

    po tris metus trukusių pastangų įrašė albumą "Viento" (liet. Vėjas) su prodiuseriu ir muzikantu Leonu Somovu ir akordeonininku Nerijumi Bakula. Tais pačiais metais Eduardo dainavo chore "Pro Musica”, vadovaujamame Rasos Gelgotienės ir koncertavo Niujorke bei Vašingtone, JAV. Dainuoja kaip Choro Solistas.

Music

The album Paradise of the forgotten is dedicated to those people who go through our lives without obtaining any type of recognition, title, diploma or medal, and who usually dies in solitude in oblivion. I remember people who have passed through my life and unwittingly have left me an example, a fair and timely word. It is also inspired by the exiles fleeing the horror of the war in Africa, and who perish in the Mediterranean Sea without any help from the European brothers. What kind of paradise are those refugees? Will they have a better luck in heaven? or there will also be social and color classes up or down, wherever this is our paradise.

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