La Grossa is one of the biggest and most renowned tango orchestras in France.
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Founded in 2015 by Federico Sanz, La Grossa is composed of professional musicians convinced that a large number of performers constitute a unique force of musical expression.
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La Grossa performs tangos of the vieja guardia, the tango nuevo and current authors. It offers concerts in France and Europe, organizes milongas and proposes tango training courses in schools and music conservatories.
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La Grossa also regularly participates in dance performances accompanying dancer and choreographer Matías Trípodi and has also collaborated with dancers from the Paris Opera to put on the show Abrazos. Moreover, the orchestra was invited by the National Opera of the Rhine to perform the Astor Piazzola’s opera María de Buenos Aires.
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The orchestra is based in the Argentinean House at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, therefore it is a reference for all official institutions.
The orchestra
Music director
Federico Sanz is a violinist and the music director of La Grossa. He was born in 1987 in Rosario, Argentina, into a family of musicians. He was introduced very early on in the world of music by his father, by strolling in the corridors of the Colon Theater of Buenos Aires.
He began his musical training with Margarita Molo at the age of six. Later, he took his firsts violin lessons with Rodolfo Marchesini, First violin of the Provincial Symphony Orchestra of the city of Rosario. In 1993, he continued his training with Pablo Saraví, First violin of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Colon Theater of Buenos Aires, who remained his teacher until his departure to France.
He revealed a passion for tango at a very young age. In the Argentinian tango environment, he met violinist Pablo Agri with whom he studied different styles of this musical genre.
At the age of 18, he joined the Tango Orchestra and the Symphonic Orchestra of the city of Rosario. Later, he also joined the orchestra of the famous bandoneonist and composer Rodolfo Montironi.
These experiences led him to form different tango groups in Argentina and France, where he arrived in 2009 to pursue his classical training with Gilles Lefèvre and Manuel Solans. Once in France, he joined the Tango Orchestra of Gennevilliers, led by the renowned bandoneonist Juanjo Mosalini.
In 2014, Federico has begun to play with PRISMA, a trio of violin, saxophone and bandoneon who uses computer-based music to compose world music.
Since its foundation in 2015, he is the musical director of La Grossa, based in the Argentinean House in Paris.
The musicians
