Sorana Santos

Composer. Pianist. Vocalist. Writer. 

Songwriting savante and shameful self-promoter. 

I am a London-based lifetime music collector and music obsessive extraordinaire. There was rarely a day that went by without me playing the piano, composing and singing for at least three or four hours, after which I'd do my homework whilst taping and cataloguing John Peel sessions, writing songs, poems and letters, and playing guitar. I used to save my lunch money to buy CD's, then pawn my CD's to get to as many gigs as possible, and my lunch hours were spent working out songs and drum patterns in music rooms. The neighbours used to bang the walls with pots and pans to shut me up; as you can see, it didn't work!

With the greatest of pleasure, I trained to grade 8 distinction on piano and cello before going on to gain my first degree in Composition from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama where I studied with my ultimate composition heroine, Diana Burrell. It was hard giving up the Ballet classes, but I ensured I made up for it by dancing many a night away and, gladly, some things never change. 

I have been fortunate enough to have always performed and composed extensively for numerous major and independent labels, as well as being invited to compose music for award-winning writers, directors and performers, my favourites being Ralitza Petrova and Tracy Keeling.  

I am most passionate about song/vocal music and have made it my life's mission to become as much of an expert as I could be - hence my in-depth study of composition, voice, and literature. Consequently, much of my time is spent researching, composing and performing music on themes that explore and build boundaries between styles, concepts, cultures, and methodologies. I also publish occasional articles on my specialisms, and support others on their journey by providing guidance and resources that enable them to fulfill their potential as composers, songwriters and performers.

All that time spent alone in my room as a teenager writing poetry, stories and reading large reference books eventually paid off, and I am now proudly represented for my creative writing by the wonderful people at Lazy GramophonePress. They kindly commission me for poetry and prose and recommend me for other publications at times. In return, I have just finished writing them my first book on contemporary music scheduled for release later this year.