Alejandro Sandler

Argentina-born conductor Alejandro Sandler formed his own ensemble, the innovative Lutetia Orchestra, after moving to France for study. His programming has mixed European and South American elements. Sandler was born in Rosario, Argentina's "second city," on June 7, 1976. He earned a scholarship from the Mozarteum Argentino and, supported by that, moved to France in 2001. Sandler attended the Conservatoire de Lyon (CNSM). He focused at first on the trumpet, earning first prizes in trumpet, Baroque trumpet, and chamber music before graduating. Switching to conducting, Sandler moved on to the Conservatoire munipale in Ivry-sur-Seine (CRR), studying with Nicolas Brochot and earning another first prize. He graduated in 2007. He also took classes at the Conservatoire de Seine-Saint-Denis with Henri-Claude Fantapie, studied at the Staatskapelle Berlin, and had master classes from the likes of Kurt Masur, Daniel Barenboim, and Charles Dutoit. In 2007, Sandler traveled to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, to train orchestral musicians there. Sandler formed the Orchestre de Lutetia in Paris in 2011, naming it after the ancient name of the city under Roman rule. The group is made up of young European conservatory graduates who are also members of major French orchestras, including Les Siècles, the Paris Opera Orchestra, and the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra has achieved high visibility, performing some 100 concerts in France, Spain, Mexico, and Argentina, attracting such soloists as trumpeters David Guerrier and Bernard Soustrot and pianist Frank Braley. Sandler has programmed mainstream material by Beethoven and others alongside tango and other South American material. The orchestra has held residences at the Casdal Center in Paris and at the Bagneux and Chatillon Conservatories. Sandler also served as the principal conductor at the Loiret Symphony Orchestra in the mid-2010s. With the Orchestre de Lutetia, Sandler released the album Le rêve et la terre, featuring music by Debussy and Alberto Ginastera. He and the orchestra returned in 2024 on the Evidence Classics label with the album Alas, containing music by Ginastera, Alejandro Iglesias Rossi, Gerardo Di Giusto, and Gabriel Sivak.
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