Meet Álvaro!

Álvaro Torres was born in Madrid in 1993, where he began his classical piano studies at Centro Integrado de Música Padre Antonio Soler. After graduating, Álvaro moved to Nepal, where he gave classes at the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory for a year in piano, ear training, and advanced theory. He also took part in different projects with Hindustani musicians, including 2 recordings, and collaborated with American percussionist Mark Holub in “Conflux”. Later he began his studies at Conservatori del Liceu in Barcelona, where he was a recipient of a scholarship from AIE and received two scholarships, “Jóvenes Promesas”, from Fundacion Ferrer-Salat. 

Additionally, he took part in an exchange program with the prestigious University of North Texas, where he studied one semester and collaborated with musicians Garrett Wingfelt and Anna Jalkeus, among others. Álvaro won the “Talavera de la Reina Jazz Competition” in 2016 with the Maxi Caballero Quartet. In 2017, he toured Colombia playing with relevant figures of Colombian folklore and jazz. Furthermore, in 2019 Álvaro released his first lead record, “Specious Present” with Fresh Sound Records. In the same year, he studied for European Jazz Master (EUJAM) in Copenhagen and Berlin. While in Europe, he collaborated with Kresten Osgood in Denmark, Philip Gropper in Germany, and Jesper Nordberg in Sweden.

In 2021, Álvaro moved to New York to study for his masters at the Manhattan School of Music on a full scholarship from the MSM and Fundacion La Caixa. His second lead album, “Heart is the most important ingredient” featured Joel Hillerhad, Barry Altschul, and Kresten Osgood, and was released by Sunnyside records. 

Throughout his career, Álvaro has toured in an extensive list of countries as a lead musician and collaborator with several different groups. He has performed in Spain, France, The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Nepal, Colombia, and Mexico. Additionally, Álvaro has collaborated with an extensive list of musicians, such as Barry Altschul, John Hérbert, Kresten, Osgood, Roman Filiu, Masa Kamaguchi, Joe Fonda, Tony Moreno, Philipp Gropper, Jürg Wichihalder, Maikel Vistel, Antonio Arnedo, Javier Moreno, Eric Surmenian, Ivo Sans, Oriol Roca, Don Malfon, Magali Datzira, James Kitchman, Ines Kolleritsch, Gianni Gagliardi, and Félix Rossy- amongst others. 

Lastly, Álvaro composed and recorded the music for the short film, “The Distance to Nebraska” by Brooklyn based director, Álvaro Guzmán-Bastida. In addition to this, he collaborated as a composer and pianist in the soundtrack of “Sal y Diviértete”, a film by Spanish director Luis Aller.