JP Jofre, Bandoneon
Making his Santa Fe Symphony debut February 23, 2025, the critics are gushing over JP Jofre … “Electrifying” writes the Mercury News. One of the most important Argentinean bandoneonists and composers (CNN), his “compositions are masterly and his quintet is excellent” (Paquito D’Rivera). He has an “understanding and passion that is rooted in the traditional, but he isn’t afraid to push into new territories” (Josh Groban). In short, his music has depth and yet is still pleasant to listen to (Grammaphone).
Born in San Juan, Argentina, Jofre, is a 2022 GRAMMY-nominated composer and bandoneon player. He has been highlighted several times by the New York Times and he’s often been regaled as one of today’s leading artists by presenters such as the Great Performers at Lincoln Center. Having written several concertos and more than 40 chamber music works, his music has been recorded by Grammy winner Paquito D’Rivera, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the London Symphony. He has performed and given lectures at Google Talks, TEDtalks, and The Juilliard School of Music and he has performed his music all over the world including at prestigious sites such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, The Los Angeles Music Center, Morlacchi Theatre (Italy), KaposFest (Hungary), Taiwan National Theatre and Concert Hall, Beijing National Theatre and Concert Hall, the Mariinsky Theater, Mikhailovsky Theater, and Stanislavsky Theater (all in Russia) and the Seoul Art Center in South Korea. Jofre has also been part of many important music festivals, including the Celebrity Series of Boston, Umbria Jazz Festival, Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Seattle Town Hall, Hatfield and Sheffield Chamber Music Festival (U.K) and Kasposfest (Hungary) to name just a few.
For the world premiere of his Bandoneon Concerto, the Mercury News wrote: “…Jofre is an electrifying composer and bandoneon player.” Not long after, he was invited by the Free University of Bolzano and SudTirol Festival (Italy) to perform it in 2012 for during an homage to Argentinean Nobel Peace Prize winner, Adolfo Perez Esquivel. For the release of his Double Concerto for Violin and Bandoneon with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, BBC Magazine wrote: “His concerto is arresting and rather beguiling.”
He currently leads the JP Jofre Quintet; the ensemble has been touring internationally since the release of their album Manifiesto.
Jofre started making music for his own pleasure at the early age of 5, his academic studies in music began much later, at age 15, with double bass lessons with Nestor Castillo, harmony with Horacio Lavaise, and composition and orchestration with Ezequiel Viñao and Adrian Rusovich. He took masterclasses given by Ingrid Zur and George Heyer (Germany) and studied bandoneon with Julio Pane, former bandoneonist of the legendary Astor Piazzolla Sextet.
Jofre has received numerous requests for new music, including commissions from producer Ted Viviani; violin virtuosos Francisco Fullana, Kyung Sun Lee, Rachel Lee, Eric Silberger, Lucia Lin, Michael Guttman, and Yih Shuin Huang; pianists David Fung and Min Kwon; clarinetist Seunghee Lee; and cellist István Várdai. MUPA Budapest, Metropolis Ensemble, Belares Symphony Orchestra, and San Antonio Music Institute have also commissioned him for works for their respective ensembles.