Sorana Santos

Biography

Sorana is a composer, pianist and vocalist whose work brings together elements of Contemporary Music, Jazz, Electronic and Experimental Music, and traditional Songwriting. The use of voice and keyboard instruments - piano/prepared piano/harpsichord/harmonium - are central to her work, and this relationship is used to present themes exploring music's relationship with language, mathematics, physics and archetypal symbology.

Her portfolio includes commissions from and work with the BBC, and The Rose Theatre, Southbank, as well as premieres with Juice Vocal Ensemble and The Bath Festival, and her music has been broadcast on BBC3 and BBC6. Among a diverse range of awards and nominations that include The Philip Bates Prize and the International Poetry Competition, Sorana was also Millennium Commission artist, and her first full-length album Our Lady of Stars / Books of Hours and Changes, which toured with support from Arts Council England, was nominated for BASCA's British Composer Award in 2016 under the Jazz Composition category.

She is a featured music writer at The Wire, The Guardian, Angenda Poetry Journal, and London Jazz News, and her poetry, prose, and scores are published by Lazy Gramophone Press, is a Visiting Lecturer at Oxford University and London's Centre for Young Musicians (a division of the Guildhall School), and is a member of the the Musician's Union's Music Writer's Committee.  

"A panoramic epic of an album... Sorana Santos, lady of myriad magical voices." Max Reinheardt, BBC3

"One of the best Jazz vocal offerings to date... A great talent." Adrian Pallant, London Jazz News

"Took my breath away." Tom Robinson, BBC Introducing

"Her music shows the flair and imagination inherent in her personality." Diana Burrell