Musician Bios

Leonardo Suarez Paz
violin & voice

It seems that Leonardo Suarez Paz had no choice but become a tango artist.  As a child, he witnessed the turns of the tango history right in his house - always full of tango’s legendary creators.  “Born in Buenos Aires and now a New Yorker, Suarez-Paz is tango royalty.  His father, Fernando, was the violinist in the ensemble of Astor Piazzolla, the most significant figure in tango since the matinee-idol Carlos Gardel.” Leonardo grew up surrounded by the sounds and attitudes of New Tango revolution alongside its main protagonists: his father Fernando, a famous tango poet, Horacio Ferrer, and a genius composer, Astor Piazzolla, who crushed the traditions of tango by infusing the old form with the unpredictable rhythms and harmonies of jazz and classical music.  Leonardo’s father went around the world as the violinist of Astor Piazzolla’s famous New Tango Quintet.  He then formed his own Quinteto in memory of Astor, which also features Leonardo’s mother, Beatriz Suarez Paz, a legendary tango singer. 

Like his father, Leonardo mastered the violin and toured with legendary tango orchestras around the globe for over a decade as a violin soloist with Tangox2, Julio Bocca’s Ballet Argentino, The Show of Mariano Mores, and Broadway shows Forever Tango and Tango Argentino.  Like his mother, he sang tango and opera, already earning good living at the age of 8 singing in television commercials. And like his grandfather, he became an incredible tango dancer mastering the dance with Argentina’s finest, Carlos Copes.  He spent many nights in the mysterious world of Buenos Aires milongas with his friends, Zotto, and showing off steps with attitude and skill with approval, if not admiration of the old-time milongueros.

“With his dark good looks and impeccable manners, Suarez- Paz might himself be a screen star someday, especially given that the start of his American career could have come right out of an MGM backstage musical.  “I came to America to be on ‘Forever Tango,’” he said. New York audiences were familiar with Suarez-Paz from a 1993 North American tour of the revue “Tango x 2,” where he danced and played  violin.” (4 to Tango, Go Eerie, by John Chacona, 2004)

Now, an Academician of the National Academy of Tango and its official correspondent in the United States, Leonardo works on innovative artistic projects, which cross geographical and musical borders. When Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra showed up in Buenos Aires, Leonardo brought together the best in tango and jazz in an unprecedented jam session. 

 
Throughout his intense musical career, he recorded with a bouquet of international stars enhancing the productions of Placido Domingo (“Mariachi” Capitol Records 2000), American jazz legend Stanley Jordan (“My Favorite Things” TCB Records 2002), Luis Miguel (“Amarte es un Placer,” EMI 1999), and Carlos Franzetti’s (“The Jazz Kamerata”/“Tango Bar” Chesky Records).  One can hear the sound of his tango violin in motion pictures Bossa Nova, Imposters and Flawless with Robert Deniro.  Last year, Leonardo went around the U.S. as Concertmaster with Classical Savion, a unique production by Savion Glover.  He continues to direct his own international productions: Cuartetango and The Masters of Nuevo Tango.

Alejandro Drago
violin

An outstanding Argentine violinist, Alejandro Drago combines tango intensity with technical perfection of classically trained artist. He studied violin in Argentina, Europe and Russia under the guidance of prominent teachers such as Ljerko Spiller, Gabriel Banat, Jacques Israelevitch, Chaim Taub, Le�n Spierer, Alberto Lysy and Marina Yashvili. The Russian government awarded Alejandro a scholarship to pursue his Master of Arts program at the Chaikovsky Conservatory. The National Orchestra of Argentinean Music invited him to perform as Assistant Concertmaster during its European Tourn�e. Alejandro also founded and directed "Moskva Tango", an ensemble fully devoted to the popularization of tango in Eastern Europe. He performed with tango musicians such as Atilio Stampone, Nestor Marconi, Carlos Buono, Osvaldo Berlingieri, Fernando Su�rez Paz and Osvaldo Piro.

Ron Lawrence
viola

With recent concerts at the Koln Musik Triennale, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Moers Festival, Ron has performed as a chamber musician and soloist on four continents. He also plays with the Orchestra of St. Lukes, Sirius String Quartet, Cecilia Bartoli and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. His classical recordings include work with Kathleen Battle, Renee Fleming, Robert Craft, Andre Previn, and Donald Runnicles. A champion of new music, Ron has collaborated with composers from John Adams to John Zorn, and recorded with Regina Carter, Lee Konitz, Paquito D'Rivera, Eumir Deodato, Jeremy Pelt, Bob Belden, Elliot Sharp, James Blood Ulmer, Cassandra Wilson, and John Cale. As part of the Cuartetango string quartet, Ron became an avid tango performer and continues to expand his tango expertise working in Buenos Aires where the group collaborates with legendary masters such as Marconi, Consentino, Zunini, Berlingieri, and Suarez Paz.

Daniel Miller
cello

Cuartetango’s cellist, Danny Miller is the principal cellist of the Greenwich Symphony and an active orchestral, recording and theater musician in New York. He plays in the Broadway production of Wicked and has appeared as soloist with the Little Orchestra Society, the Savannah Symphony, the New Jersey Philharmonic and the New Amsterdam Symphony. Danny was a member of the Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo in Naples and the Glimmerglass Opera. As a chamber musician, he performed at the Banff and Spoleto Music Festivals, as a member of the Laurentian String Quartet and Musica Amici, and is cellist for the Greenwich Chamber Players. He has played for Tony Bennett, Liza Minelli, Frank Sinatra, Smokey Robinson, and many more pop, rock, and jazz entertainers.

DANCER BIOS for "Romance de Tango," a production of Cuartetango Music + Dance Company

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