Ignacio Varchausky (

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

) is a

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

player, music producer and the founder of Orquesta El Arranque (1996). He is also the creator and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce. Varchausky is the founder of TangoVia Buenos Aires, a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

, which aims at preserving, spreading and developing

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

culture throughout the world.

Orquesta El Arranque

With this group Varchausky has recorded six albums and has performed as a double bass player in over 150 cities throughout the US, Europe, Japan and China. His most significant shows include the cycle at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

in New York with

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

and the

Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (also known as the JLCO) is an American big band and jazz orchestra led by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. The orchestra is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a performing arts organization in New York City. History ...

, the concert at the Carré Theatre in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, at Orchard Hall in Tokyo, at Grieg Hall in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

in Washington, D.C., and the series of concerts at the 2007

Hong Kong Arts Festival The Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), launched in 1973, is an international arts festival held in Hong Kong. It covers all genres of the performing arts as well as a diverse range of educational events in February and March each year. Histor ...

Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce

The documentary "Si sos brujo: A Tango Story", which sees Ignacio Varchausky as the lead character together with maestro

Emilio Balcarce Emilio may refer to: * Emilio Navaira, a Mexican-American singer often called "Emilio" * Emilio (given name) * ''Emilio'' (film), a 2008 film by Kim Jorgensen See also * Emílio (disambiguation) * Emilios (disambiguation) Emilios, or Aimilios, (G ...

, records the birth of this orchestra-school for young tango musicians in Buenos Aires. Following Balcarce's retirement, the Orquesta Escuela is directed by maestro Néstor Marconi.

Music production

Varchausky has produced over twenty

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

with artists such as

Leopoldo Federico Leopoldo Federico (12 January 1927 – 28 December 2014) was an Argentine bandoneon player, arranger, director and composer. Life Born in the district of Once in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Federico was one of the most prolific bandoneo ...

, Gustavo Beytelmann, Julio Pane, Néstor Marconi,

Bibi Ferreira Abigail Izquierdo Ferreira (1 June 1922 – 13 February 2019), known as Bibi Ferreira, was a Brazilian actress, singer, and director. In a career spanning more than 75 years, Ferreira directed and performed in numerous theatrical productions and ...

, Lidia Borda and Vale Tango.

Special productions

* Creation and artistic production of the Gran Orquesta TangoVia Buenos Aires, formed by the most important tango musicians of the new generation (2003) * "Tango en Vivo" concert cycle, in collaboration with radio "2x4" 92.7 FM in

. Over 100 tango concerts were performed, each of which was recorded in digital multitrack and broadcast to a weekly audience of over 300,000 listeners. The cycle was subsequently published as a boxed set of 5 CDs produced by EPSA Music. * Production of the documentary "Si sos brujo: A Tango Story" (2005) by Caroline Neal, TangoVia Buenos Aires. * Tango Week, December 2004, at the Coliseo Theatre in Buenos Aires, with the participation of musicians Gustavo Beytelmann, Quinteto Ventarrón, Nicolás Ledesma, Orquesta El Arranque with Julio Pane, Mauricio Marcelli, Néstor Marconi,

Raúl Garello Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...

among others. * Latin Tinge, Orquesta El Arranque + LCJO with Wynton Marsalis, May 2001 (local and artistic production). * Buenos Aires Tango Festival in Paris, Théâtre national de Chaillot, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008. * Buenos Aires Tango Festival in Rome,

Auditorium Parco della Musica An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

, 2006, 2008. * Tango Festival in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, European Culture Capitals of the year 2004. * Musical production of the show "Efecto Tango",

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, 2005. * Madero Tango, artistic direction, 2004–2006.

Record productions

* Cabulero, Orquesta El Arranque, Epsa Music (2001) * Clásicos, Orquesta El Arranque, Epsa Music (2002) * En Vivo, Orquesta El Arranque, Epsa Music (2003) * Maestros, Orquesta El Arranque, Epsa Music (2004) * Nuevos, Orquesta El Arranque, Epsa Music (2008) * Tal vez será su voz, Lidia Borda, distributed by Epsa Music (2002) * De contra punto, Orquesta Escuela de Tango, Epsa Music (2001) * Bien compadre, Orquesta Escuela de Tango, Epsa Music (2004) * Gran Orquesta TangoVia Buenos Aires, Gran Orquesta TangoVia Buenos Aires, Epsa Music (2003) * Tango en Vivo, AA.VV, boxed set of 5 CDs, Epsa Music (2003) * Sigamos!, Gustavo Beytelmann, Epsa Music (2004) * Bardi, Vale Tango, Epsa Music (2005) * Tango, Bibi Ferreira y Miguel Proeça, Biscoito Fino (Brazil, 2006) * Cada vez que me recuerdes, Sayaca Ohsawa, Epsa Music (Japan, 2007) * Instantáneas, Julio Pane, Epsa Music, Colección TangoVia Buenos Aires (2007) * Tiempo esperado, Néstor Marconi, Epsa Music, Colección TangoVia Buenos Aires (2008) * Mi fueye querido, Leopoldo Federico, Epsa Music, Colección TangoVia Buenos Aires (2008) – Winner of the 2009

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

* Tren, Diego Schissi doble cuarteto, Epsa Music (2008) * Tangos cantados, Tangos instrumentales, Tangos bailables, boxed set of 3 CDs published with the Italian weekly

L'Espresso () is an Italian progressive weekly news magazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies; the other is the conservative magazine . Since 2022, it has been published by BFC Media. From 7 August 2016 to 10 September 2023, it was ...

, production and artistic direction (Italy, 2008) * A tiempo, Noelia Moncada, Epsa Music (2008)

Awards and prizes

* 2009

for Best Tango Album with My Fueye Querido, Leopoldo Federico * "

Francisco Canaro Francisco Canaro, also known by the nickname Pirincho, (November 26, 1888 – December 14, 1964) was a Uruguayan violinist and tango orchestra leader. Canaro was born in San José de Mayo, Uruguay, in 1888. His parents were Italian immigrants, ...

" Prize awarded by da SADAIC, 2007, Tango revelation of the last decade, Orquesta El Arranque * Diploma of Merit, Konex, 2005, Best tango group of the last decade, Orquesta El Arranque * Gardel Prize for the best album by a tango orchestra, 2004, "En Vivo", Orquesta El Arranque *

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

Nomination for Best Tango Album 2004, "En Vivo", Orquesta El Arranque * Award by SADAIC for the spreading of Argentinian music through the world, Gran Orquesta TangoVia Buenos Aires, 2003 * Award by the Head of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Tango Festival 2003 * Member of the jury of the Clarín Prize and of the Gardel Prize since 2003 * 4 Nominations to the Gardel Prize – Cabulero (2001), Clásicos (2002), Tal ves será su voz (2003), Maestros (2005) * Clarín Prize, Revelation of the year, El Arranque, 1998 * Honorary Godfather of the sixth Tango Festival in Buenos Aires * International delegate at the 2003 and 2004

Arts Midwest Arts Midwest is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations created to “encourage development of the arts and to support arts programs on a regional basis.” Arts Midwest's mission is to "build unprecedented opportunity across the ...

Conference, invited by the

Ohio Arts Council The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio. Its offices are in the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus, Ohio. History Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and as ...

References

External links

*
Official TangoVia Website
*
Part 1 of 3-part audio interview with Ignacio Varchausky by Keith Elshaw, 27 October 2009
*
Part 2 of 3-part audio interview with Ignacio Varchausky by Keith Elshaw, 27 October 2009
*
Part 3 of 3-part audio interview with Ignacio Varchausky by Keith Elshaw, 27 October 2009
*

*
Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce
*
Interview with Néstor Marconi, new director of the Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce
*
How to apply to the Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varchausky, Ignacio 1976 births Living people Jewish Argentine musicians Argentine record producers Argentine tango musicians Argentine double-bassists Male double-bassists Latin Grammy Award winners Music industry executives Musicians from Buenos Aires 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century male musicians