Javier Subatin

Javier Subatin was born in Buenos Aires in 1985 and he is now living in Lisbon.

In Buenos Aires, at the age of ten, he felt the calling for music and guitar playing. When he was 14 he started composing music for guitar and different ensembles and his curiosity about music led him to study jazz guitar, improvisation and composition with several teachers.

In 2005 he completed the first year of the Bachelor on Electroacoustic Composition at the Quilmes University and in 2008 he got a Bachelor’s degree in popular music with a specialization in Tango guitar. Between 2012 and 2013 he studied music production at INARTEC. In 2014, he moved to Paris where he worked on different projects including Tango ensembles, private teaching and composing original music for a stage production.

In the past years, he was selected to participate in various international contests and festivals such as the Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition 2015, Komeda Jazz Composers Competition 2017, the Euroradio Jazz Competition 2019 at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, So What’s Next? Jazz Festival 2020, Südtirol Jazz Festival 2019 and Gaudeamus Music Week 2020.

He started his path as a composer and guitarist in the European jazz scene in 2018 with the release of his first recording “Autotelic” with the support of Sintoma Records and Antena 2 radio station. And in the course of two years, he released three recordings and is currently working on two new albums to be released in 2021. Additionally, in 2018 and 2019, he won a grant from Fundação GDA for the production of his second album “Variaciones” and for his fourth album that will be recorded in March 2021 with the support of Antena 2 and Musiberia.

His first recording, “Autotelic”, is based on a duo of piano and guitar with the renowned Portuguese jazz pianist João Paulo Esteves da Silva. His second album, “Variaciones”, has the collaboration of some of the most relevant jazz musicians from Portugal. Variaciones (March 2020) had its debut presentations in 2019 in Hot Club de Portugal and Porta Jazz. His third recording (Trance), which was released by Ears&Eyes Records in November 2020, is based on a trio of guitar, alto saxophone and drums. With this project, he performed in festivals such as Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Südtirol Jazz Festival and Somersby Out Jazz. Currently, Javier is composing for a new trio project and working on a solo performance in which he works on compositions and free improvisations using extended techniques and electronics, thus creating a musical context that mixes contemporary improvised music, jazz and electronic music.

Javier also works on classical and new music composition. His piece “Pensando Vientos” (for flute, clarinet, horn and string quartet) has been selected to be part of a workshop at the Annual Royal Music Association conference in Bristol. Furthermore, his experimental piece for solo guitar and surround electronics "Untitled#1", in which he explores original ways of writing for prepared guitar with different objects, loops and electronics, has been selected to be performed at the international conference 21st Century Guitar - Unconventional Approaches to Performance, Composition and Research in March 2021. Additionally, his four pieces series of interactive compositions “Exploración 111” was selected to take part in the Gaudeamus Music Week 2020 (Netherlands).

In 2019 he finished the master's degree in jazz performance at the Superior School of Music in Lisbon (Instituto Superior de Música de Lisboa) during which he developed two research projects. The first year he worked on a study about the contemporary jazz current reality that was presented in the Nova Contemporary Music Meeting 2019 and it will be published during 2021 by CESEM. He also finished his dissertation about the first stage of the compositional process in contemporary jazz where he developed a map that proposes a methodology to approach and analyse the initial stages of the creative process.

In 2020, he founded the Composers and Improvisers´ Community Project (CICP) where musicians from different parts of the world release solo performances in video format and collaborative recordings produced remotely. Currently, the CICP project includes more than 15 musicians from Portugal, Italy, Finland, Argentina, the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and is constantly growing. Starting in 2021, Javier will program a series of 20 live streaming performances with the support of the Antena 2 radio station.

Awards

Selected to play at So What’s Next Jazz Festival’s (Netherlands) showcases with his solo project PULSAR. Selected piece at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2020 (Netherlands) with his series of interactive compositions “Exploración 111” (premier). Selected piece and performance at the 21st Century Guitar international meeting (2021) with his solo project for prepared guitar and surround electronics. Founder and artistic director at Composers and Improvisers Community Project. Grant from Fundação GDA (2020) for the production of his fourth album “javier subatin trio” (to be released during 2021). Finalist at the Euroradio Jazz Competition 2019 at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival with trance trio project. Grant from Fundação GDA (2018) for the production of his second album Variaciones (released in March 2020). Finalist at the Komeda Jazz Festival Composers’ Competition 2018. Semi-finalist at the Montreux Jazz Festival Guitar Competition 2015. Finalist at the Óscar Alemán International Jazz Guitar Competition 2002. Pensando Vientos. Selected piece at the Royal Music Association Annual Conference 2018 (England) - The Bristol Ensemble conducted by John Pickard.