Research Thursdays - Alejandro Sánchez-Samper and Matt Baltrucki Receive Latin Grammy Nomination

Images: (left to right) Matt Baltrucki, FAU Assistant Professor of Music; Giovanni Parra, Director and Bandoneon, Quinteto Leopoldo  Federico; Alejandro Sánchez-Samper, FAU Professor of Music; Mauricio Cano, multi-Latin Grammy Engineer

Alejandro Sánchez-Samper (professor of music) and Matt Baltrucki (assistant professor of music) received a Latin Grammy nomination for the album Quinteto con Voz by the Quinteto Leopoldo Federico. Sánchez-Samper co-produced the album with Giovanni Parra, the director and bandoneon player for the ensemble. Baltrucki, Sánchez-Samper and multi-Latin Grammy engineer Mauricio Cano engineered the album. 

This is the third Latin Grammy nomination for the Quinteto Leopoldo Federico and for Alejandro Sánchez-Samper and Matt Baltrucki. Their two previous albums, Bogotá-Buenos Aires (Latin Grammy nominee in 2015 in the Best Tango Album Category) and Pa’ Que Más: Música Andina Colombiana (Latin Grammy nominee in 2017 in the Best Folk album category) were recorded and distributed through FAU’s record label Hoot/Wisdom Recordings.

Quinteto con Voz, the Quinteto’s third album was recorded in September 2019 as a joint venture between Parra and the Teatro Colsubsidio Roberto Arias Pérez, one of Bogotá’s leading performance venues. The album was nominated in the Best Folk Album category. The Latin Grammy awards are on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. You can listen to the album on the streaming platform of your choice here . 

The Quinteto Leopoldo Federico is a musical ensemble from Bogotá, Colombia, originally formed as a tango ensemble and performance school by Parra, the director and bandoneon player of the Quinteto. The Quinteto has gained reputation internationally as both a world-class tango quintet and as ambassadors for musical forms from the Andes region of Colombia. The ensemble is comprised of piano, bandoneon, electric guitar, violin and upright bass, an instrumental format that was established by the late composer and bandoneonist Astor Piazolla. 

Aside from his work with the Quinteto Leopoldo Federico, Sánchez-Samper has produced various classical, folk and world music albums and for other Colombian Andean music artists such as el Trio Nueva Colombia, Natalia Bedoya, Palos y Cuerdas, Trío Café Antaño and Saavedra. He is the faculty supervisor for FAU’s Hoot/Wisdom Recordings and teaches Sound Recording I, II and III, Introduction to Arranging and Introduction to Music Business. 

Baltrucki works with ensembles across many diverse styles of music, from traditional and modern classical chamber music, to contemporary tango, jazz, punk, metal, indie rock and popular music genres. Baltrucki has worked on albums released on numerous record labels including ATMA Classique, Centaur, Broken World Media, Top Shelf Records and Hoot/Wisdom Recordings. Baltrucki’s audio for video post-production credits include many programs for nationally broadcast television networks including the Outdoor Channel and NFL Network. 

Sánchez-Samper and Baltrucki are currently in the post-production phase of a documentary on Colombian Andean Music that will be released next year. 

For more information about FAU’s Hoot/Wisdom Recordings, visit: hootwisdom.com

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