Spanish Dracula

From: Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar, Argentina. LA Opera: Dracula (2024).

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.

From: Cali, Colombia. LA Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor (2022, debut); The Rape of Lucretia (2023); The Last Dream of Frida and Diego (2023); Fire and Blue Sky (2025); Dracula: The Spanish Version (2024); Romeo and Juliet (2024); Angel Blue concert (2025); Ainadamar (2025). She became Resident Conductor in 2022.

Praised for her “rich, heartfelt orchestral sound” (Chicago Sun-Times), “rhythmic vitality” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “raw power” (Los Angeles Times), Colombian-American Lina González-Granados has distinguished herself nationally and internationally as a singularly-talented young conductor. Her powerful interpretations of the symphonic and operatic repertoire, as well as her dedication to highlighting new and unknown works by Latin-American composers, have earned her international recognition, most recently being named part of Bloomberg Línea’s 100 Influential Latinos of 2022. She is also the recipient of the 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the Third Prize and ECHO Special Award (European Concert Hall Organization) of La Maestra Competition, as well as the 2020 and 2021 Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award.

After winning the Fourth Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition, Lina was named the Solti Conducting Apprentice, and served as the assistant to Maestro Riccardo Muti, from February 2020 through June 2023. In 2022, she was appointed Resident Conductor by the LA Opera, a post she will hold through June 2025. She has also previously held positions as the Inaugural Conducting Fellow of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Conducting fellow of the Seattle Symphony.

Lina’s 2023/24 season had her leading performances across the globe, including debuts with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico, I Musici de Montreal, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, New World Symphony, Euskadio Orkestra, and the San Antonio Philharmonic. She also returned to LA Opera to conduct several performances, including El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, by Grammy Award-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz, as well as the world premiere of Joel Thompson's orchestral song cycle Fire and Blue Sky. Lina also returned to Chicago to conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Learn more at LinaGonzalezGranados.com.

Read a feature article about her here.

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