2022 Best arrangement (“El plan maestro”, Jorge Drexler)
2017. Best Original Soundtrack
(A monster calls)
2012. Film Music Composition of the Year (The Impossible)
2017. Best Original Soundtrack
(A monster calls)
2008. Best Music (The Orphanage)
2017. Best Music (A monster calls)
2014. Top Box Office Films (Mama)
2012. ‘Ojo Crítico’ Prize from RNE
2008. Best Original Soundtrack (The Orphanage)
Fernando Velázquez (Getxo, 1976) is a composer of music for film, television and theatre, a creator of concerto music, a cellist and an orchestra conductor. He is one of the most essential names in our country’s musical creation, winner of 9 awards—including a Goya and a Latin Grammy—and holder of 38 international nominations.
Classically trained, he studied at the conservatories of Getxo, Bilbao and Vitoria, where he obtained the Extraordinary Prize at the end of his course. He completed his studies in Paris and at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Madrid and graduated in History at Deusto. Above all, Fernando is a lover of music and musical creation, ever since a cello was placed in his hands at the age of 12.
Cinema came into his life later on. “Bad company”, he says with a smile on his face. Since 1999, when he collaborated on a short film made by some friends (Amor de madre [Mother’s Love], Koldo Serra), his career has continued to flourish and impress with great successes. In fact, he composed the music for four of the highest-grossing Spanish films in history: A Monster Calls, The Impossible, The Orphanage, and Spanish Affair.
The soundtrack genre has allowed him to bring symphonic music to mass audiences and, above all, to explore very different expressive and narrative possibilities, from fantasy films to drama and comedy.
He has collaborated with directors such as Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak) or Wim Wenders (Submergence) and brought to life the work of stars like Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Holland, or John Hurt. In Spain, he has composed the scores for other acclaimed feature films such as Julia’s Eyes, God’s Crooked Lines, or Undercover.
Looking beyond the imagined dividing line between popular and classical music, Fernando asserts the value of good music for the general public, with compositions that excite, transcend and “become an entity of their own” (El Ojo Crítico Award, 2012).
In television, for example, he has touched the hearts of millions of viewers with his compositions for series such as Patria, Querer, The Last Night at Tremor Island, or Invisible. He has also made his mark in theater, composing the music for hit productions like Alfredo Sanzol’s The Bar That Swallowed All Spaniards or the Puy du Fou production El tambor de la libertad (The drum of liberty).
Among his more than 300 symphonic compositions, the following concertos are particular highlights:
Concerto for Two Flutes and Orchestra, premiered by the OSPA (Symphony Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias) in 2024.
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, recorded in 2020 with Johannes Moser and Euskadiko Orkestra for the Pentatone label.
Humanity At Music, a cantata that has been translated into several languages and has become the international anthem of cooperativism. It is part of an inter-cooperative artistic project that brings together artistic disciplines such as music, storytelling, singing, illustration, bertsolaritza, theatre and dance.
Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra, recorded by Ximo Vicedo and Euskadiko Orkestra in 2020.
Cantata de Estío, recorded in 2020 with Euskadiko Orkestra.
Viento del Oeste (Wind from the East), a work commissioned by the Spanish Association of Symphony Orchestras (AEOS) and the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (BOS).
Gabon dut anunzio, Christmas cantata, performed by the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra and the Bilbao Choral Society, among others.
Piano Espressivo, recently performed by the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Víctor Pablo Pérez.
He has conducted London’s Philharmonia, the London Metropolitan, the Czech National Orchestra, the Budapest Radio Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of RTVE, Bilbao, Euskadi, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, Navarra, Murcia, Asturias and Seville, among others.
In recent years he has recorded the vast majority of his productions with Spanish public orchestras, a matter regarding which he has made a personal commitment.
He has also produced music and live concerts by Amancio Prada, Leire Martínez (La Oreja de Van Gogh), Ken Zazpi, Raphael, Doctor Deseo, Pasión Vega, Zea Mays, En Tol Sarmiento, Zetak, Izaro, Olatz Salvador, Huntza, Idoia, Eñaut Elorrieta, Gatibu, Mikel Urdangarin, El Drogas, Mabü, among many others.
He has also collaborated with singers such as Caetano Veloso, Jorge Drexler, Raphael, Mikel Erentxun, Pedro Guerra, Rozalén, Loquillo, Zahara and groups such as Love of Lesbian and Mc Enroe…