VI.BE

A meeting between two musicians with very different backgrounds, a sweet and gentle fusion is created between classical music and world music.

Georgina Sánchez Torres (cello) lifts us up to be floating on a sultry breeze of Classical and Spanish music, while Johan De Pue (voice and guitars) - guided by the sounds of jazz and world music - takes us to a place where magic resides.

Shambalajah is the universe that is created in the meeting between these two musical worlds. It also refers to 'Shambhalah', which means 'the way of the peaceful warrior'.

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Georgina Sánchez Torres (cellist, composer, conductor)

Since her first recital in 2002, she has received over 35 awards as a soloist and in chamber music, has performed throughout Spain and in numerous European countries (Italy, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, France…), and has participated in recordings for radio and television. Her most relevant album releases include En La Ciudad del Cielo (2013), Spanish Cello (2014), El Vuelo del Pájaro (2015), and Live in Zaragoza (awarded the Best Classical Music Album at the MIN 2016 Awards) and Beethoven & Tausch (Music at the dawning of the XIX Century, with the clarinet performer Francisco José Gil. She has been a soloist at the Wiener Mahler Philarmoniker (2013), and founded the Young Leon Orchestra (JOL), where she also participated as their first director (2014-2015). Her most notable awards as a soloist and composer are the "Juventudes Musicales de España", "Premio Intercentros" or "Arte Joven Castilla y Léon" award (2010), and the composition award "Pentafinium Jacobeo" (2016). She is the founder of publishing house and record label SANTOR Ediciones, through which she presents her recordings and compositions.

She has a degree in Violoncello and Conducting. She also holds several postgraduate titles: in Direction, by the Polytechnic Institute of Oporto (ESMAE), in Dance, by the Dance Institute Alicia Alonso, and a Master in Music Performance at Valencia International University. Georgina plays a H. Derazey violoncello of the 1860s. She is currently a Violoncello, Orchestral Repertoire and Chamber Music Professor at the Conservatoire Bonifacio Gil of Badajoz.

In recent years she has been an active part in the project Shambalajah, fusionating classical and world music, together with the guitarrist, composer and singer Johan de Pue.

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Johan De Pue (°1988) started playing guitar at the age of seven. Starting with classical guitar, his interest soon widened to jazz and traditional music.

While studying jazz guitar at the conservatory of Rotterdam, Johan received a few prices, such as the first price at the XL-Jazz contest in Brussels with his band 'Raw Kandinsky', and a price for one of his compositions in the 'Blue Note Demo Contest'.

After finishing his studies at the conservatory, Johan traveled to East-Europe, Brazil and New Orleans to study the traditional music of these places; learning from the roots. He traveled together with fellow students from the conservatory in Rotterdam, with a band called the 'Balcony Players'.

Being inspired by many magical musical meetings, and having composed a lot of music on his travels; Johan started the project 'Stompin Caravan' to perform his original compositions (2015). The band later changed names to 'Karivaani Orkestra', and still exists today.

Johan later thought himself to play tenor-banjo and banjo. He also studied as a jazz singer; at the conservatory of Ghent, and with a private teacher. He joined and started several projects, such as Tiny Oak, Heebie Jeebie Jazz, Gentrifuge, Shambalajah Quintet, and a coöperation with classical cellist Georgina Sanchez Torres.