Valentin Surif, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been actively performing in solo and chamber music recitals, as well as a soloist in symphonic concerts under conductors including Enrique Bátiz, Enrique Barrios, Juan Carlos Zorzi, Eduardo Carrizosa, Julián Blanco, Carlos Vieu and Germán Cáceres.
He was a disciple of Alicia de Larrocha, Tino Rossetti, Celia Bronstein, Carlo Zecchi, Aimée van der Wiele, Antonio Iglesias, Sergio Lorenzi, Earl Wild and Roberto Caamaño.
Valentín Surif is regularly invited to perform for the musical seasons of the Argentine Association of Composers, Internacional Encounters of Contemporary Music,Festival of the Americas, Trimalca, Liszt Festival, Chopin Festival and so on.
He participated in Taormina Festival (Italy), Music in Santiago de Compostela(Spain),Festival for Peace(El Salvador), Festival 'A Tempo' (Venezuela), Argentine Festival in Fort Lauderdale (USA), Piano Festival of Bucaramanga (Colombia), Eisteddfod (South Africa), Chopin Festival (Argentina) and invited by Carlo Zecchi to Salzburg Festival among others.
He also offered concerts in the USA, Honduras, Guatemala , Portugal, Nigeria Tunisia, Brazil, Spain, France and Mexico as part of the activities of the Cultural Department of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He was invited to perform as a soloist with the Philarmonic Orchestra of Buenos Aires on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Argentine Association of Composers. He was awarded the 1995 Great Prize to the best classical interpreter by SADAIC (Argentine Society of Composers).
The Franz Liszt Hommage Commmittee chose him for the Liszt recital of the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the composer's death at the Colón Theatre of Buenos Aires, where he became one of its frequent soloists.
As a soloist he performed with reputed orchestras such as the National Symphonic Orchestra, Philarmonic Orchestra from Bogotá, National Symphonic Orchestra from El Salvador, Symphonic of Aguas Calientes in Mexico, to name a few.
He was awarded scholarships for further studies by the British Council, Mozarteum in Argentina, Music in Compostela, and was appointed honorary member of the committee of CAMU (Argentine Council of Music), and obtained awards by the National Fund for the Arts, SADAIC, National Academy of Music, Italian Cultural Centre, and Symphonic Orchestra of Santa Fé among others.
Surif also made recordings for Naxos, for which he is covering the whole piano works by Alberto Williams. He also made recordings for IRCO for the series 'Panorama of Argentine Music', under the sponsorship of the National Fund for the Arts, Argentine Council of Music and Argentine Publishing Co. of Composers (EAC). He also recorded other CDs with sonatas by great Argentine composers.
He made recordings for the BBC, Radiodifusion Francaise, and Radio Télévision de la Suisse Romande.
He is the Executive Director of the Musical Competition of the River Plate and he is regularly invited as a member of the Jury in national and international music competitions including Liszt Festival, Chopin Competition (Buenos Aires) and IBLA Grand Award (Italy). Surif was also adjudicator in Piano Competitions held by Liszt Association, International Encounters of Contemporary Music, Ginastera Competition, and the River Plate Piano Competition (of which he is the Executive Director) among others.
He made recordings of works by Argentine composers who obtained awards by the National Fund for the Arts of Argentina, CAMU (Argentine Council of Music), and Publishers of Artgentine Composers in the series "Panorama of Argentine Music 1860-1964".
Together with his frequent music tours in the USA, he participated as the Argentine representative in the International Piano Festival of Bucaramanga (Colombia), Eisteddfod (South Africa), Peace Festival (El Salvador), 'A Tempo' Festival (Venezuela), Argentine Week in Fort Lauderdale (USA), Chopiniana Foundation (Argentina), Beethoven Festival (Argentina).
Among his participations as a soloist , Ginastera¨s Concerto No. 1 was greatly welcome by reviewers. (Philarmonic Orchestra from Bogotá, Symphonic Orchestra from Bahia Blanca-Argentina). The Argentine Association of Composers (SADAIC) granted him the Great Award to the best Argentine Classical Artist. His latest CD of five Argentine sonatas La Sonata Argentina was praised in Washington, New York, San Francisco and Buenos Aires.
The Argentine Council of Music appointed Surif honorary member. He was the only Latin American pianist performing for the First World Encounter of Pianists in New York in 2005, and also in the International Congress of Pianists in Madeira (Portugal) in 2006.
Currently, Surif is Executive Director of the River Plate Piano Competition and President of ALAPP - Argentina (Latin American Association of Pianists and Piano Pedagogues) affiliated to EPTA (European Piano Teachers Association). The 2006 Ginastera Festival in London, held by ILAMS (Society of Iberian-Latin American Music) and the Cultural Department of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, invited him to offer the closing recital of the Festival as well as his participation as adjudicator of the 2006 Piano Competition of the Beethoven Society of Europe. Then, he also presented several performances of Argentine composers in Portugal.
In 2007, Surif represented Argentina in the Festival for the Celebration of Latin American Culture at de University of Berklee , Boston, and at the Argentine Consulate in New York. He also participated as a soloist for the musical season of the Chopiniana Foundation in Buenos Aires. In January 2008, he presented a programme of French composers at the Festival of French Music for Noontime Concerts of San Francisco (USA) and also for Old First Concerts, as well as a master class for young pianists at the Faculty of Music of the University Notre Dame de Namur from Belmont.
He participated in the 4th International Festival of Ushuaia 2008 with the Symphonic Variations by Cèsar Franck. That same year he was also invited to the International Music Festival in Kotor (Montenegro) and to the Wimmer Auditorium in Augsburg (Germany).
In 2009, the National Fund for the Arts and AMIA invited him to their concert venues and the Argentine Embassy in Chile organises the celebration of the 199th anniversary of the Argentine May Revolution with some concerts he offered at the University of Santiago, and at the Auditorium La Reina.
He represented Argentina at the 31st International EPTA Congress in Prague, where he analizes and interprets works by JJ Ramos and R Garcìa Morillo.
Free recital (retiring collection)