ABBA

Arranger, conductor, and multi-instrumentalist who studied the piano under the tutelage of his father and then gravitated to the violin at the age of ten. He attended the Conservatory of Amsterdam, the Conservatory of Utrecht and the Maastricht School of the Arts in Tilburg.

Groups with whom he has performed comprise the Amhern Philharmonic, Choro Combinado, the Dutch Promenade Orchestra, Grupo Zamanakitoki, the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Pecs Symphony Orchestra, the Pedro Libert Group, and the Pedro Libert Quartet.

He appeared on several albums toward the end of the millennium, including Best of Ronald Snidjers, Black Holland, Kaya Grandi by Grupo Zamanakitoki, Sono di un Muhe by Izaline Calister, and Sonoroso by Choro Combinado.

Grupo Zamanakitoki appeared at the Northsea jazz festival in 1997. Pedro, along with Hans Hasebos, Steven Kamperman and Gijsbert Zwart helped ring out the Music: World Series in 1998. In August 2000, Choro Combinado entertained at the Niteroi theater and Sala Cecilia Mereilles in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He conducted the Dutch Promenade Orchestra on 15^th September 2000 in a program that featured Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ah Perfido, op. 65”, Robert Schumann’s “Pianoconcert in a, op. 54”, Igor Stravinsky’s “Suite uit De Vuurvogel”, and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Fantasie Ouverture Romeo en Julia”.

He arranged and conducted music for the Euro + Song festival in 2001 and 2004. In 2005, he played viola on the Randy Winterdal album, Ku Pasonan Chiki. He teamed up with contrabassist Melanie Tangkau on 23^rd March 2006 at the SJU Jazzpodium in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

For a sample of Pedro’s viola stylings, check out the Ronald Snijders album, Another Side of Jazz.

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