“Technically flawless, he’s totally under the skin of the composers’ idioms.” - The Strad

BIOGRAPHY

Colombian cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia is a prolific soloist, composer, commissioner, recording artist, painter, and photographer described as "technically flawless… totally under the skin of the composers' idioms" (The Strad). He was named a BBC New Generation Artist in 2022. Born in Bogotá in 1995, Cañón-Valencia made his orchestral debut as a soloist with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá at age six, blossoming into an accomplished musician praised as "an artist from whom sound and texture flow with ease and authenticity" (The Whole Note) and a "virtuoso of outstanding versatility and technical ease" (The Violin Channel).

In a highlight of his 2026-2027 season, Cañón-Valencia makes his Carnegie Hall debut in the course of a five-city North American recital tour with pianist and frequent collaborator Victor Santiago Asunción. Among his other season highlights, he performs a solo recital at Tanglewood, presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He makes orchestral debuts as a soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, where he performs as soloist on Gabriela Ortiz’s Dzonot Cello Concerto. His return engagements include performances with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, and Filarmónica de Galicia. He also embarks on a North American recital tour with the Casals Quartet, a West Coast chamber tour with Camerata Pacifica artists Grace Park and Irina Zahharenkova, and a tour of Italy with pianist Naoko Sonoda. He makes return appearances to the Cartagena Music Festival in Colombia and Festival Casals in Puerto Rico.

Cañón-Valencia’s many accolades include Silver Medalist and "Audience Favorite" at the 2019 XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition; recipient of the 2018 Starker Foundation Award; Third Prize honoree at the 2017 Queen Elisabeth International Competition; and First Prize winner at the Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition and Beijing International Music Competition, among many others.

His solo career has taken him around the world to perform with such orchestras as the SWR Symphonieorchester, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Antwerp Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Macedonian Philharmonic, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony, as well as all of the major orchestras in his native Colombia. During the 2023-2024 season, he made his debut at London's Wigmore Hall as a BBC New Generation Artist alongside pianist Naoko Sonoda. He has been featured at South Korea’s Mostly Cello Festival and in 100th birthday celebrations in honor of János Starker in Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo, Japan. Over recent seasons, his North American schedule has taken him to performances with ensembles including the Kansas City Symphony, Camerata Pacifica, Phoenix Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Montgomery Symphony Orchestra.

Passionate about collaboration with living composers, Cañón-Valencia performed the world premiere of Amparo Angel’s Cello Concerto at the Morelia Festival in Mexico, as well as the US premiere of Tobias Picker’s Cello Concerto with the Montgomery Symphony during the 2025-2026 season. Previously, he performed world premieres including Carlos Andrés Mejía’s Cello Concerto, “Aurora” at Colombia’s Pereira Music Fest, Jorge Pinzón's Cello Concerto "Rapsodia a los 4 Elementos" at the Cartagena International Music Festival, and Carlos Izcaray's commissioned cello concerto Stringmaster with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. He also gave the Colombian premiere of Ginastera's Cello Concerto No. 2 with the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia.

As a recording artist, Cañón-Valencia enjoys immersing himself in known and unknown works, particularly in commissioning new pieces, arranging, and composing. In July 2025, he released his second single on Deutsche Grammophon – a recording of his original work Ouróboros with pianist Naoko Sonoda – as part of the label’s Musical Moments series. His previous DG single, a recording of Arvo Pärt’s Fratres also performed with Sonoda, was released as part of the same series in 2024. His latest complete album, Ascenso, was released in November 2022 on Sono Luminus, showcases pieces arranged and written by himself, plus works commissioned and written for him by contemporary Colombian composers. Earlier recordings include his acclaimed debut release Solo, an album with pianist Andrea Lucchesini dedicated to Schubert and Beethoven for the Egea label, and an album of Russian cello sonatas and popular pieces from the cello repertoire with pianist Katherine Austin for the Atoll label.

Cañón-Valencia’s primary musical mentors have been Henryk Zarzycki in Colombia, James Tennant in New Zealand, Andres Diaz in the United States, and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at the Kronberg Academy in Germany. He has been sponsored by the Mayra & Edmundo Esquenazi Scholarship through the Salvi Foundation since 2011.

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CONCERTS

Aug 29 - Kuala lumpur, mys

PETRONAS PHILHARMONIC HALL

Dvorak Cello Concerto with Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra & cond. Junichi Hirokami

BIOGRAPHY

CONCERTS

Aug 29 - Kuala lumpur, mys

SEP 9 - MEDELLIN, col

oct 2 - Bogota, col

OCT 3 - BOGOTA, COL

OCT 11 - THOUSAND OAKS, CA, USA

oct 13 - SAN MARINO, CA, USA

OCT 14 - LOS ANGELES, CA, USA

OCT 15 - SANTA BARBARA, CA, USA

OCTOBER 21 - CLEVELAND, OH, USA

OCT 30 - CALGARY, CAN

NOV 1 - ROCKPORT, MA, USA

NOV 4 - MONTREAL, CAN

NOV 8 - RICHMOND, VA, USA

NOV 10 - NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA

NOV 15 - MEMPHIS, TN, USA

DEC 13 - FLORENCE, ITA

DEC 15 - ROME, ITA

DEC 16 - TURIN, ITA

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