Biography
Walter Silva was born in Buenos Aires and grew up in to a music and tango atmosphere under the influence of his father, an amateur tango singer and guitarist.
He started his studies on classical guitar and music theory in Mar del Plata with Carlos Costa Kelly.
In 1986 he moved to Spain and continued his studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid with Professor D. Ballesteros. Simultaneously, he studied with Hugo Geller and attended master classes with Miguel Angel Girollet, José Tomás, Gerardo Arriaga, José Miguel Moreno and Hopkinson Smith among others.
He completed his musical training on harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatory Antonio Padre Soler, in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, where he graduated as a Senior Professor of Classical Guitar under the guidelines of J. C. Baños.
Due to his interest for Electroacoustic music, he studied composition with Gabriel Brncic at the Laboratory of Electroacoustic Music in Cuenca.
Walter Silva has an extensive history of solo recitals, as well as with various groups throughout Spain, Argentina, Germany, Sweden, Finland…
He performed at International Tango Festival of Granada and Latin American Culture Festival of Santiago de Compostela with his tango trio, Trio 4, International Music Festival Benidorm ´86, sharing lineup with respected artists such as Paco de Lucía, International Autumn Festival of Madrid, in which he performed for the first time his composition “ABANTOS”, with the Walter Silva Ensemble.
On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, Silva has been invited to perform concerts with his group, the Walter Silva Ensemble, in several cultural venues of Madrid.
In demand as a guitarist, Mr. Silva played in the musical West Side Story, at Teatro Nuevo Apolo in Madrid and toured throughout the country (Teatro Principal de Alicante, Auditorium de Palma de Mallorca y Teatro Principal de Valencia).
Silva’s stylistic versatility as a guitarist led him to collaborate on stage and recordings with various artists and projects, like renowned Swedish songwriter Lisa Miskovsky and German DJ and producer, Ibiza Air, among others.
In the field of chamber music, Silva founded Trío Sur, together with flutist Ezequiel Cortabarría and cellist Oscar Grossi. Discography: Trío Sur (1990), Adagio (1992), Concierto Clásico (1998).
He also founded Trío 4, together with Brazilian flutist Luiz Braga and cellist Adrián rodríguez, approaching vanguard tango music with it. Discography: Nuevo tango (1992).
Silva recorded for TVE and Sveriges Radio.
As a composer, Walter Silva composed music for the short film “Entre el amanecer y el día” by Mónica Pérez, as well as music for TV advertisement and many pieces for solo guitar and guitar and ensemble.
In 2011, Walter Silva recorded his first solo guitar album, “Todavía hay tiempo”, which includes, among others, arrangements of some pop classics and his own compositions, performed by his group, the Walter Silva Ensemble.
His latest album, released in 2013, includes his own composition, “Seis cuerdas en el alma” as well as arrangements for solo guitar of classical masterpieces and pop and rock classics which exude magic and creativity and reveals a distinctive musical personality. Both albums have been deserving of the highest praise from Thijs Van Leer, leader of the legendary Dutch progressive rock group, Focus.
As a result of his collaboration with German artist Ibiza Air, Walter Silva has released three singles: A Wonderful Experience (2017), Turipanu (2018) and Siempre Esperanza (2019).
In the ´90s, Walter Silva suffered Focal Dystonia in his right hand. After several years of research and personal experimentation, he retrained him self and got fully recovered.
Since then, Walter developed a method and now he is helping other guitarists, who contact him from all over the world, to recover from this condition.