User:Madi Barrena

Madi Barrena a.k.a. Madame Jo, started piano at 6 years old with her grand mother pianist Carmen de la Torre (daughter of pianist & composer Gabriel de la Torre who works with Albeniz and Granados in Barcelona) she earn later her diploma at the Popular Conservatory of Music Amadeo Roldan in Havana, Cuba, giving a first recital in the Palacio de las Armas, Habana, Cuba. Work later in Clubs and Theater in Habana, and also appears on TV late 1970. She move to Florida with her family in 1978, then to Geneva, Switzerland. In Geneva she was engage at the Geneva Grand Opera "Grand Theatre de Geneve" for 9 seasons. She has worked with principal Orchestra conductors (e.g. Armin Jordan, Horst Stein, Jeffrey Tate, David Heusel, Stefano Ranzini), and she has performed at a number of major European music Festivals and also with the Ballet du Grand Theatre ( Bergen, Geneva, Zurich, Festival de Aix-en Provence, Italy, Spain, Germany ). She created for the first time an Edith Piaf show named “Milord” played several times in Switzerland. Since moving to California in 1998 she has played at Festivals and Ceremonies as SF Film Festival Golden Gate Award ceremony several times, SF Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, SF Architects Awards, Oakland City Hall Festival, several Club’s and Restaurants in the Bay Area, San Francisco Music Community Center, Fairfield Center for the Creative Arts and give 10 recitals playing Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Lecuona and more, in the last 5 years. Madame has also recorded, in Europe, a selection of Lecuona Cuban’s songs, and performed classical piano recitals. She also is been invited to play for the New York, Julliard School Dance Ensemble in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In June 2007 she formed the “Madame Jo Trio” and performs regularly in San Francisco.