Dr. Juan Sebastián Delgado

First-prize winner at the Latin-American Cello Festival in 2008, Argentinean cellist Juan Sebastián Delgado completed Doctoral studies in performance at McGill University with cellist Matt Haimovitz focusing on contemporary music and Nuevo Tango. The CBC Radio Ideas chose his artistic research to be featured throughout Canada and he was the featured cellist in the episode Virtuoso Brain by the TV program Decouverte.

Active in the creation and dissemination of new works that explore the cello in innovative ways, Juan Sebastián has conducted a variety of creation projects in 27 different countries, including three cello concertos written for him; Pájaro contra el borde de la noche for solo cello, ensemble and electronics by Luis Naon (Paris Conservatory), commissioned by Radio France, Cinco Tangos Apócrifos for cello and string ensemble by Jorge Bosso (2016) and The Night of a Capricious Dawn (2022) for cello and orchestra by Jason Noble.Invited to participate at the Creative Dialogues 2017, he worked with world-renowned composer Kaija Saariaho and premiered works for strings and electronics in Helinski, Finland. At the Lyon Biennale 2018, he premiered Daniel’s Tango for cello and marimba by composer Marcelo Nisinman. In September of 2019, Juan Sebastian was invited by the Albanian Government to perform with pianist Redi Llupa at the Academy of Science and Arts in Tirana premiering new works for cello and piano by Albanian composers (Simaku, Tole). In 2020, the label LeafMusic released Puneña N2, a tour de force for solo cello by Alberto Ginastera which was reviewed by composer and former Ginastera’ student Alcidez Lanza as a “brilliant interpretation.”

Founding member of the duo Stick&Bow(cello&marimba),together with percussionist Krystina Marcoux, their eclectic repertoire features their own original arrangements and commissioned works. To date, they have performed in some of the top music festivals across Canada including the Bach Festival Montréal, Festival Classica 2020, National Arts Centre for their #Canadaperforms, Salle Bourgie, and La Viree Classique, among others. Featured in CBC Music’s The Intro as “boldly going where no cello and marimba have gone before”, Stick&Bow has also collaborated with star singer Pierre Lapointe, arranging his song, Pour déjouer l’ennui andthey recently finished a 40-dates concert tour in France, as emerging artist with Jeunesses Musicales France 2022 and concerts in Colombia (2023) and Argentina (2022). Analekta/Outhere recording artists, they have recorded 3 albums in 3 years; Resonance music for marimba and cello (2019), Bach’s trio sonatas together with renowned baroque expert, Luc Beausejour (2021), and Veni, Vola, Veni (2022) featuring music by Piazzolla and Beytelmann together with tango piano legend Gustavo Beytelmann (ex-pianist of Astor Piazzolla). This album was featured in the National Radio of Argentina, where the iconic journalist Victor Hugo Morales, described their interpretation of Vardarito as among the best interpretations of Piazzolla’s music.

His interest in research and education brought him to create and structure a graduate seminar on the history of the tango at McGill University and has given masterclasses and lectures at Concordia Univeristy, The Boston Conservatory, Université de Montreal, Cuenca University in Ecuador and Bogota University, among others.