Soloist, composer, painter, photographer: Santiago Cañón-Valencia is an artist overflowing with talent. Born in Bogotá in 1995 and raised in a family of musicians and painters, he took up the cello at the age of four and a half — although at first he would have preferred the bassoon, his mother pointed him toward the right instrument. His debut as a soloist with orchestra came at just six years old, the first step in an international career that has never slowed since.
He won the silver medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, first prize at the Beijing International Music Competition, and third prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Critics have described him as “one of the most promising cellists of his generation,” capable of “astonishing virtuosity and extraordinary stage presence.”
Santiago Cañón-Valencia returns to Unione Musicale alongside pianist Naoko Sonoda, much to the delight of audiences who first discovered and admired them at the Teatro Vittoria in 2023. Their programme features works by Claude Debussy, Arvo Pärt, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Alberto Ginastera, alongside Ad Noctem, an original composition by Cañón-Valencia himself. Not to be missed!
