Musical Biography
Born in Tenerife in 1972, Diego Navarro performed his first composition in concert when he was 13 years old, aged 21 he conducted an orchestra for the first time. This composer and orchestra conductor specialized in film music enjoys an international prestige.
Navarro is considered one of the most important names in film music in Spain and is nowadays the most prolific and awarded composer from the Canary Islands. He works for both the big screen and TV. Successful films such as “Capture the Flag”, winner of a Goya and multiple awards, or “The Mauthausen Photographer” stand out in his filmography. He has received several national and international nominations and awards such as the award for best music for his score for the thriller “El Cuco” (The Cuckoo´s Curse) at the 24th edition of the Costa del Sol International Fantastic Film Festival, the “World Soundtrack Awards” (Ghent Film Festival) nomination for his “Passage to Dawn” score or his double nomination to the IFMCA AWARDS (The International Film Music Critics Association) for his score of the animation movie “Capture the Flag”. “The Mauthausen Photographer” was nominated for “Best Orchestral Score” at the XI Gaudí Awards and the II Spanish Audiovisual Music Awards.
In July and December 2021 Navarro’s second project with Mar Targarona, the thriller “DOS” (TWO), was released in cinemas and NETFLIX, respectively. This score obtains great reviews in specialized press (Fotogramas or MundoBSO), which highlight it as one of the best Spanish soundtracks of the year. His following project was “the Wasteland”, a folk horror film, released in October 2021 at the Sitges Film Festival. This Netflix original, opera prima directed by David Casademunt, was premiered on the platform January 6st 2022. Both movies were at the NETFLIX top 5 worldwide. “The Wasteland” was the number one non-English movie of the streaming platform, along the 2nd week of January, becoming a real phenomenon.
In 2023 and 2024 Navarro faces a busy schedule scoring several projects for animation films. “Winnipeg, Seeds of Love” is an international coproduction about the famous French ship that the poet Pablo Neruda charters to rescue hundreds of Spanish refugees fleeing to Chile, after the Spanish civil war. “Mariposas Negras” (Black Butterflies) is a drama focused on the emigration induced by the global warming. More projects for the upcoming year will be revealed soon.
As an orchestra conductor, Navarro has conducted a great number of world premieres of big Hollywood and European blockbusters that were arranged especially for the FIMUCITÉ festival, most notably the Universal Pictures Studios only Centennial Concert (2012 – FIMUCITÉ), the American Society of Composers Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) 100th Anniversary Concert (2015 – Krakow FMF), the DreamWorks Animation Studios Tribute Concert (2013 – FIMUCITÉ), the 40th Anniversary concert of Hollywood Film Music Record Label Varèse Sarabande in Scotland (2018) and the HBO and Netflix concerts ( FMF 2021), to name a few.
Maestro’s successful debut at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (LA) deserves a special mention. In July 2022, Navarro conducted the 40th anniversary of “Conan the Barbarian” with director John Milius, as host, and was introduced by Francis Ford Coppola and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Among his film music repertoire as orchestra conductor, Diego Navarro has a wealth of experience working with great film music composers, and conducting scores by Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, Elliot Goldenthal, Michael Giacchino, Christopher Young, Patrick Doyle, Dario Marianelli, Jan Kaczmarek, Bruno Coulais o Antón García Abril, etc.
On the other hand, Navarro gathers an extensive repertoire of film classics such as Bernard Herrmann, Alex North, Ennio Morricone, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry, George Delerue, Maurice Jarre, Wojciech Kilar, Phillipe Sarde, etc. Always achieving great reviews worldwide.
Navarro´s music and performances as an orchestra conductor have been released by prestigious Hollywood film soundtrack record label Varèse Sarabande, Quartet Records, MovieScore Media or Rosetta Soundtrack, among others.
Diego Navarro has had the honor to be the guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra & Choir (RSNO), Orchestre National Bordeaux – Aquitaine (ONBA), Paris Symphonic Orchestra (PSO), Los Angeles Film Orchestra, the Krakow Symphony Orchestra, the Aukso Orchestra, the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Get Gelders Orkest, the Golden State Pop Orchestra (GSTP – LA), Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, Orquesta Sinfónica de Málaga, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, and the Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic, among others.
In 2022, Maestro has conducted several concerts and participated in different recordings. It is worth mentioning the double recording and conducting of the world premiere of “The Abrahamic Symphony” in Krakow and Abu Dabi (2023), respectively. The album was released by Universal Music in September 2022. This ambitious piece has been commissioned by the Abu Dabi Festival for the opening of three temples devoted to the major religions. A church, a synagogue and a mosque being built simultaneously on the same plot over Arab field, a historic event. The Abrahamic Symphony featured the participation of an orchestra of 67 musicians, 6 choirs of 250 vocalists, 12 instrumental soloists, 6 singers, 5 poets, recorded in 24 recording studios around the world, from 19 cities in 17 countries. The project spreads the idea of building musical bridges that connect people from different parts of the globe, and a common appreciation of cultural diversity. It is a great tool to extend messages of peace, tolerance, and shared humanity.
Navarro is the father and director of FIMUCITÉ, the world-renowned Tenerife International Film Music Festival (www.fimucite.com), born in 2007. The successful festival is the oldest in Europe and a landmark in the universe of film music. Maestro Diego Navarro is an important international promotor of film music and has become one of the most prestigious figures conducting live film music concerts. In November 2022 he received the Golden Medal for the Arts in his hometown, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which is the highest award the city grants as a recognition to his international career as a composer, conductor and creator of FIMUCITÉ.
Diego Navarro is a member of the Spanish Film Academy, World Soundtrack Awards Academy, SGAE, Musimagen and in 2019 he has been invited to join the EFA (European Film Academy).