FIMUCITÉ

Diego Navarro premiered his first work in public at the age of 13 and conducted his first orchestra concert at the age of 21. Born in 1972 in Tenerife, the composer and conductor, specialised in music for film, enjoys a well-deserved international prestige.

Currently, he is considered one of the most relevant voices in film music in Spain and is the most prolific and awarded Canarian composer of the genre. He works for both film and television. His filmography includes successful titles such as “Atrapa la Bandera” (Enrique Gato), winner of a Goya and multiple other awards, or “The Photographer of Mauthausen” (Mar Targarona), to name a couple. He has received national and international nominations and awards such as the award for Best Music, for his score for the thriller “El Cuco” (Mar Targarona), at the 24th edition of the Costa del Sol International Fantastic Film Festival, the nomination for the prestigious “World Soundtrack Awards” (World Film Music Awards) awarded by the Ghent Film Festival for drama “Pasaje al Amanecer” (Andreu Castro), or the double nomination for the IFMCA AWARDS (International Association of Film Music Critic Awards) for “Atrapa la Bandera”. “The Photographer of Mauthausen” obtained two nominations for best orchestral score at the 11th Gaudí Awards and the 2nd Spanish Audiovisual Music Awards, respectively.

His most recent works have received great reviews from the specialised press, highlights being the films Dos (Mar Targarona) and NETFLIX original “The Wasteland” (David Casademunt). Both films were in the Worldwide Top 5 the streaming platform in January 2022, and “The Wasteland” became the most viewed non-English speaking film in the world on NETFLIX during the second week of January, becoming quite the phenomenon.

In 2023 and 2024 respectively, the composer has completed the composition of several projects, among which are international animated co-production “Super Klaus” (Canada – Spain) directed by Steven Majaury, to be released at Christmas 2024, and “Mariposas Negras” directed by David Baute, also to be released in 2024. This second film is another international co-production (Spain – Panama) focused on the drama of migration caused by climate change, told through the story of three women from different continents and ethnic backgrounds.

In 2024, and returning to the animation genre, a highlight of the composer's agenda is feature film “Winnipeg, the Boat of Hope” (Elio Quiroga and Beñat Beitia), an international co-production (Spain – Chile – Argentina) that tells the epic tale of the French ship that Chilean poet Pablo Neruda chartered to help 2,500 Spaniards in their escape from the civil war towards Chile.

In his role as a conductor, worth highlighting are a large number of World Premieres of soundtracks of important productions, both from Hollywood and Europe. Special attention should go to the historic official concerts celebrating the centenary of Universal Pictures Studios (FIMUCITÉ), the centenary of ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors & Publishers) at the FMF in Krakow, the DreamWorks Animation Studios concert (FIMUCITÉ), the 40th anniversary of Hollywood film music label Varèse Sarabande (Edinburgh – Glasgow tour) and the official concert of HBO and NETFLIX (FMF in Krakow), to name but a few.

In 2022, his successful debut, in July 2022, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles deserves special mention, conducting the premiere of the 40th Anniversary Suite of “Conan the Barbarian” in the presence of its director, John Milius, and introduced by Francis Ford Coppola and Arnold Schwarzenegger, leading the Los Angeles Film Orchestra and the SoCal Chorale.

Also worthy of note is his conducting of the “Space Gala” concert at the Krakow Film Music Festival in May 2023, where the maestro conducted, among other scores, the world premiere of the soundtrack of “Avatar, The Way of Water” in the presence of its composer Simon Franglen. On the occasion of this concert, in July, Polish TV channel “Play Krakow” produced and premiered a documentary focused on the figure of the Canarian maestro, loved and admired by the Polish public and one of the main guest conductors of the festival since 2009. The film It can now be enjoyed online under the title “Diego Navarro Space Gala”.

Diego Navarro, as an conductor specialised in film music, has had the pleasure of working with great masters of the genre such as Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, Elliot Goldenthal, Christopher Young, Patrick Doyle, Dario Marianelli, Jan Kaczmarek, Bruno Coulais and Antón García Abril, among others. Likewise, he has an extensive cinematographic repertoire conducting classics such as Ennio Morricone, Bernard Herrmann, Alex North, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry, George Delerue, Maurice Jarre or Phillipe Sarde to great praise from both national and international audiences and critics.

His soundtracks and conducting performances have been released by prestigious Hollywood film music record label Varèse Sarabande, indispensable within the genre, Quartet Records and MovieScore Media, among others.

Navarro has had the honour of being a guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra & Choir (RSNO), Bordeaux and Aquitaine National Opera Orchestra, Paris Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Film Orchestra, Krakow Symphony Orchestra, Aukso Orchestra, City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Het Gelders Orkest, Golden State Pop Orchestra, Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Malaga Symphony Orchestra, Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Academy Orchestra and Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic, among others. In November 2024, the maestro plans to make his debut conducting the Chicago Philharmonic.

Navarro is the director and father of FIMUCITÉ, the Festival Internacional de Música de Cine de Tenerife (www.fimucite.com) which, in July 2023, successfully celebrated its 17th edition. The event sets an international standard in the world of film music and is, today, the oldest festival in the world in its genre. Maestro Navarro has established himself as one of the main promoters of music written for the screen on the international scene, becoming one of the most renowned conductors in the field of music for film. In November 2022, he received the Gold Medal for cultural merit from his hometown, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in recognition of his career as a composer, conductor and head of FIMUCITÉ. In 2023, the Cabildo of Tenerife granted him the title of “Illustrious Son of the Island of Tenerife”.

The award-winning composer and conductor combines his career writing music for film and television with directing film music concerts at FIMUCITÉ and other film music festivals around the world.

Diego Navarro is a member of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, Musimagen, SGAE, World Soundtrack Awards Academy, and in 2019 he was invited to be part of the European Film Academy (EFA). In July 2024, he was named a member of the American Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, renowned the world over for their annual awards, the Oscars.

Official website:
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