Argentine choral composer
Santiago Veros
Choral music that feels like cinema.
Glaciers, galaxies, rivers, absent friends. Santiago Veros turns them into music for human voices. His works have been premiered in 24 countries and sung by The Gesualdo Six and Elektra Women’s Choir. On March 7, 2027, his Dear Earth receives its world premiere at Carnegie Hall.
“It provided a powerful high point of tension in our concert and one could tell the audience was engaged in its drama.”
Elektra Women’s Choir
“Veros uses crystal glasses and awe-inspiring original text to sonically recreate the feeling of gazing into a starry night sky.”
Ragazzi Boys Chorus on Galaxias
“Santiago makes the sound move us in a way nothing else does.”
Anna Hamre · Fresno Master Chorale
The story
Where the music comes from
Caseros · 1990s
Before the first note
Santiago grew up in Caseros, on the edge of Buenos Aires. His father was a musician and music therapist; his mother, a sociologist. His first music teacher was the Argentine composer Valeria Pelka. As a boy he had difficulty with speech, and working on it with a therapist led him to the singing voice. By the time he wrote for a choir, he knew the voice from the inside.
La Plata · 2009–2018
Souls of clay
In 2009, while studying composition at the National University of La Plata, he wrote Almas de Barro, “souls of clay.” Within a few years his music was traveling to the Philippines, to Chile, to the United States. In 2018 the Cypriot choir Cantus Novus Femina sang Almas de Barro at Europa Cantat in Tallinn. He was the first Latin American composer to have a work premiered at the festival.
Buenos Aires · 2020–2021
The piece that came after
In December 2020 an internal hemorrhage put him in intensive care. During his recovery he wrote Galaxias, for voices, piano and crystal glasses, about the light each person gives the others, even from far away. Choirs across the United States have sung it since, from California to Virginia.
Galaxias · Lawrence University Concert Choir, conducted by the composer United States · 2022–2026
Many choirs, one song
I Will Dream With You, written with poet Charles Anthony Silvestri, is a farewell. Its message, says conductor Anna Hamre, is “I will see you again.” Odes of Love, commissioned by St. Ambrose University, reaches further: in the 2026/27 season one choir per U.S. state premieres it as that state’s ambassador. Twenty-three states have joined.
See the states and claim yours
Coming up
What’s next
Dear Earth
A new work with the legendary choral poet Charles Anthony Silvestri. Conducted by Katherine Chan, it is part of a three-work program presented by MidAmerica Productions.
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Almas de Barro in Tolosa
The Bulgarian National Radio Children’s Choir sings it at the Tolosa International Choral Contest, one of Europe’s most prestigious choral competitions.
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Odes of Love state premieres
Twenty-three states have joined. Some are still open.
Claim your state
Selected works
Six places to start
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Galaxias
SATB, piano, crystal glasses · 4′40
A starry night sky, sung.
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Glaciares
SSAATTBB, string quintet, organ · 8′40
Premiered by the South Bend Chamber Singers in 2024.
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Almas de Barro
SSA or TTB · 3′40
His first bestseller, sung at Europa Cantat and now in Tolosa.
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Land of Angels
Recorded by The Gesualdo Six
Written in memory of his friend Angelina Nicolaidou.
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I Will Dream With You
SATB, clarinet, piano, string quintet · 7′00 · text by Charles Anthony Silvestri
A farewell, and a promise to meet again.
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Lake of Stars
SSAA, alto flute, string quintet · 9′50 · text by Charles Anthony Silvestri
Released with Elektra Women’s Choir and musicians of the Vancouver Symphony.
For directors
Bring his music to your choir
Commission a new work, share one through a consortium, or invite him to work with your singers.
Commissions
A new piece for your choir alone, or shared with choirs in other cities and countries so the premiere happens everywhere at once.
Residencies
Rehearsals, workshops and a premiere with the composer in the room. He has worked with 57 U.S. university programs.
Editions
Scores he edits himself, laid out for real rehearsals, with QR-linked audio in development.
Performing his music?
For your concert program
A photo and a bio in three lengths, ready to print. No need to ask.
Santiago Veros (b. 1990) is an Argentine composer who writes choral music that feels like cinema. His works have been premiered in 24 countries. His Dear Earth premieres at Carnegie Hall on March 7, 2027.
Argentine composer Santiago Veros (b. 1990) writes choral music that feels like cinema: glaciers, galaxies and absent friends rendered in human voices. His works have been premiered in 24 countries and performed by ensembles including The Gesualdo Six, Elektra Women’s Choir and the Ragazzi Boys Chorus. In 2018 he became the first Latin American composer to have a work premiered at Europa Cantat. His Odes of Love is being premiered by choirs in 23 U.S. states. His Dear Earth, with text by Charles Anthony Silvestri, premieres at Carnegie Hall on March 7, 2027.
Argentine composer Santiago Veros (b. 1990) writes choral music that feels like cinema: glaciers, galaxies and absent friends rendered in human voices. “Santiago makes the sound move us in a way nothing else does,” says Anna Hamre of the Fresno Master Chorale. His works have been premiered in 24 countries and performed by ensembles including The Gesualdo Six, Elektra Women’s Choir and the Ragazzi Boys Chorus.
Born in Caseros, Buenos Aires, the son of a musician and a sociologist, Veros came to the voice from the inside, working through a childhood speech difficulty. He studied composition at the National University of La Plata and choral conducting at the National University of the Arts. His music first traveled to the Philippines and Chile. In 2018 the Cypriot choir Cantus Novus Femina sang his Almas de Barro at Europa Cantat in Tallinn; he was the first Latin American composer to have a work premiered there.
His music has been presented at national and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, and he has worked with 57 U.S. university programs. He wrote Galaxias, for choir, piano and crystal glasses, while recovering from a serious illness in 2020–21. Choirs across the United States now sing it. With poet Charles Anthony Silvestri he has written I Will Dream With You, Lake of Stars and Dear Earth.
His Odes of Love invites one choir per U.S. state to premiere it as that state’s ambassador; 23 states have joined. On March 7, 2027, Dear Earth receives its world premiere at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Katherine Chan. He also works with choirs as a composer-in-residence and guest clinician. santiagoveros.site