Aldemaro Romero

Aldemaro Romero was born in Venezuela in 1928 and established himself internationally as a pianist, composer, author and arranger.

At the age of 22 he signed a contract for RCA in New York as an arranger.

The following year he released his most successful album, "Dinners at Caracas”, which became a best-seller in America.

His notoriety continued to grow and over the years he was invited to work with orchestras and great artists including Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Stan Kenton, Ray Mc Kinley, Machito, Noro Morales, Miguelito Valdés and Tito Puente.

While he was in Italy, Romero composed many soundtracks among which stood out the one for "The Saga of Simon Bolivar”, a film by Alessandro Blasetti with Maximilian Schell and Rosanna Schiaffino, that won the Peace Award at the Moscow Film Festival in 1969 .

His greatest contribution to music was certainly the introduction of a new genre, called "Onda Nueva", which became the main theme of the Caracas Music Festival from 1971 to 1973.

The artistic director of the event was Aldo Pagani, a dear friend and exclusive editor of Romero.

As conductor and arranger, Romero won numerous awards including the First Prizes at the Mallorca Music Festival, the Music Olympiade in Athens and the Latin Songs Music Festival in Mexico.

In 1979, Romero fulfilled a long-pursued dream: he became conductor of the Caracas Philharmonic Orchestra.

The orchestra was composed of 90 musicians from all corners of the world and the chorus of 150 voices was conducted by Elaiza, Romero's daughter.

Romero also founded a music conservatory in Caracas.

In the following years he conducted some of the most important orchestras in the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra and the Roumanian Radio and Television Orchestra.

In his career as a composer, Romero wrote for orchestras, choirs and ballets and, later, he also dedicated himself to the composition of some concerts.

In 2002 Aldo Pagani founded the "Aldemaro Romero Best Soloist Award", in association with the "Piazzolla Music Award".

In 2002 and 2003 the competition took place in Italy, while in 2004 it moved to Caracas, with the participation of 4 orchestras, numerous soloists and conductors of international fame.

The later editions took place in Japan and in the United States of America.

Romero was also involved in writing, publishing several books on music and collaborating with various music magazines, including “El mundo de Caracas” and “Notitarde”, and regularly presented radio programs.

He was appointed Life Senator of the Venezuelan Congress and became a member of the Tourism Committee and of the Administration and Public Service Committee of the Congress.

He founded PACI, the Congressman Friends Association of Italian Culture.

He died in Caracas in 2007.