Dracula: The Spanish Version

A two-time Oscar-winning multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and composer, Gustavo Santaolalla is recognized as one of the most highly acclaimed and prolific contemporary Argentine musicians in the world. In the mid-nineties, Santaolalla created his own record label Surco and has produced more than 100 albums by some of Latin America’s most relevant alternative musicians, including Café Tacvba, Julieta Venegas, Molotov, Los Prisioneros, Juana Molina, Bajofondo, Los Tigres del Norte and Juanes establishing him as one of the fundamental pillars of the history of the movement known as Rock en Español. In 2020, he produced Break It All (Rompan Todo), Netflix’s mini-series about the history of rock in Latin America. Santaolalla has won two Grammys and 19 Latin Grammys.

In 2000, Santaolalla began composing for television and film. He has written music for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful, Walter Salles’ Motorcycle Diaries and On the Road, and Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, for which he received his first Oscar for Best Original Score and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, “A Love That Will Never Grow Old,” co-written with Bernie Taupin. The following year, Santaolalla received his second Oscar for Best Original Score for Babel. He went on to work on television series such as Jane the Virgin, Hell on Wheels, Narcos: México and The House. Music from his solo album Ronroco has been used in Michael Mann’s The Insider and the HBO series Deadwood. In 2014, Santaolalla composed for the successful and award-winning film The Book of Life, not only the score, but also original songs with the iconic Paul Williams. He collaborated again with Williams along with Gary Clark, Jr. in Freak Power: The Ballot of the Bomb, a documentary inspired by Hunter S. Thompson’s run for sheriff of Pitkin County. In 2018, Santaolalla was chosen by Eric Clapton to score his autobiographical documentary Life in 12 Bars. In 2019, Santaolalla was invited by Clapton to perform at the Crossroads Guitar Festival alongside artists such as Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton, Vince Gil, John Mayer and Clapton himself.

In 2013, for the first time in his career, Santaolalla submerged himself into the gaming world and created the music for a video game. The Last of Us, developed by Naughty Dog and created and directed by Neil Druckmann for Sony PlayStation, won more than 200 awards, including BAFTA's Game of the Year, becoming one of the most successful video games in history. Following the release of the much-anticipated sequel The Last of Us II in 2020, Santaolalla was invited by Druckmann to score the HBO series based on the beloved video game. With Druckmann and Craig Mazin at the helm of the series, The Last of Us was released in January 2023 and has received outstanding reviews from television critics and gamers alike. Santaolalla received his second Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) and the series won eight Emmys overall for its first season.

Praised for her "attention to orchestral colors" (OperaWire) and ability to create "lightning changes in tempo, meter, and effect" (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Colombian-American Lina González-Granados has distinguished herself nationally and internationally as a talented young conductor of symphonic and operatic repertoire. Her spirited interpretations of the orchestral repertoire, as well as her dedication to highlighting new and unknown works by Latin-American composers, have earned her international recognition, most recently as the recipient of the 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the third prize and ECHO Special Award (European Concert Hall Organization) of La Maestra Competition, and the 2020 and 2021 Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award.

She was the winner of the Fourth Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition, and became the new Solti Conducting Apprentice under the guidance of Riccardo Muti, beginning in February 2020. She has held positions as Conducting Fellow of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Seattle Symphony.

Her 2021/22 season highlights include returns to the New York Philharmonic and Rochester Philharmonic, as well as debuts with the National Symphony (USA), Ann Arbor Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Spanish National Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Kristiansand Symphony, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Polish National Radio Symphony, Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León and Tenerife Symphony.

She will also conduct The Barber of Seville at the Dallas Opera.

Recent appearances include performances with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, and Filarmónica de Medellín. She has had the opportunity to work with world- renowned artists such as Yefim Bronfman, Pinchas Zukerman, Giancarlo Guerrero, Zubin Mehta, Marin Alsop and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

She is an active and fervent proponent for the inclusion and development of new works for chamber and large orchestra, especially music from Latin-American composers. She is the Artistic Director of Unitas Ensemble, a chamber orchestra she founded that performs the works of Latinx composers, and provides access to free community performances for underserved communities. Her work with Unitas has earned her numerous community awards, most recently a Spark Boston award from the City of Boston. She has also commissioned multiple World, North-American, and American premieres, as well as the creation and release of the Unitas Ensemble album Estaciones, recorded alongside the Latin Grammy-winning Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

Born and raised in Cali, Colombia, Lina González-Granados made her conducting debut in 2008 with the Youth Orchestra of Bellas Artes in Cali. She holds a Master’s Degree in Conducting with Charles Peltz, a Graduate Diploma in Choral Conducting from New England Conservatory with Erica Washburn, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from Boston University. Her principal mentors include Marin Alsop, Bernard Haitink, Bramwell Tovey and Yannick Nézet- Séguin.

Learn more at LinaGonzalezGranados.com.

Read a feature article about her here.

Read the LA Times review of her 2022 LA Philharmonic debut here.