Born in Buenos Aires, Leandro Ragusa, composer, bandoneonist and musical director, has developed his career both in Argentina and abroad, having performed in concert halls such as Lincoln Center in New York, Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Center in New York, Lithuanian Center in Philadelphia, Huis Ten Bosh in Nagasaki. , Kirchner Cultural Center, Teatro 25 de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Portugues Theater in New Jersey, Diese Once in Montreal, among others.
Ragusa has played with some of the most important musicians in the world such as Paquito de Rivera, Diego Urcola, Nestor Marconi, Cacho Tirao, Emilio Balcarce, Raul Jaurena, Carlos Lazzari, Pedro Giraudo. Together with the electronic music ensemble Tanguetto he recorded the album Hibrid Tango which has been nominated for the 2018 Latin Grammy.
In October 2021 he has presented, as a bandoneonist and founder of the Underground Tango Ensemble, a quartet based in New York, the album “El Charrúa” in homage to the music of the legendary Uruguayan bandoneonist Raúl Jaurena at the Merkin Concert Hall in Manhattan and at the Philadelphia Argentina Tango School.
In October 2022 he has presented, as a bandoneonist and founder of the Underground Tango Ensemble, a quartet based in New York, the album “El Charrúa” in homage to the music of the legendary Uruguayan bandoneonist Raúl Jaurena at the Merkin Concert Hall in Manhattan and at the Philadelphia Argentina Tango School.
Ragusa is the musical director of the Tango Orchestra “La Guardia Imperial” with whom he performed at the Lincoln Center in New York, and acclaimed show such as “Souls of Tango” which premiered at the White Plains Art Center in New York, and “Tangologie” at Place des Arts in Montreal.
In 2023 he was part of the cast of the off-Broadway Musical ‘Gardens of Anuncia” performing at the Lincoln Center Theatre.
Since 2021, he has been a regular musician in the cast of the Tango shows at the Thalia Theater in New York.
His discography includes: Dinámica del viento (Club del disco – Argentina – 2017), Historia del Tango (Independiente – Argentina – 2018), River Eyes (Forrest K Collective – USA – 2019), El Aleph Camara (Epsa music – Argentina – 2021), El Aleph Electroacústica (Epsa music – Argentina – 2021), El Charrúa (USA – 2021), Intimo (GLM – Germany -2022), Eolia (Aula Records -Chile – 2022)
Ragusa has been commissioned by several chamber music ensembles such as Sylvan winds (New York), Choros quintette a vent (Montreal), Arrythmia Quartet (Alabama), Quinteto USACH (Santiago de Chile)
As a soloist, he participated in various concerts with the Argentinian National Radio Youth Orchestra (Buenos Aires), Longueuil Symphonic Orchestra (Montreal), San Martín Symphonic Orchestra (Buenos Aires), Les flutistes de Montreal Wind Orchestra (Montreal). ), Polyphonic Choir of the University of Morón (Buenos Aires – Argentina)
Being a highly respected musician he has created numerous different projects such as Les Neons Quatuor (Montreal), Colectivo Tangente (New York), Duo Ruiz-Ragusa, Duo Grieco-Ragusa, Quinteto de Academia (Buenos Aires)
He has twice received the Scholarship for Composition granted by the National Endowment for the Arts of Argentina.
With a scholarship from the Konex Foundation (https://www.fundacionkonex.org/), he studied the First Higher Diploma in Tango, graduating in 2004.
He worked as a teacher of the History of Tango career at the University of Tango of Buenos Aires CETBA and held the chair of Appreciation of the Language of Tango (School of Popular Music of Luján).
He currently gives lectures on the History of Tango for different entities in Argentina and abroad and recently made the documentary Tango in 3 centuries together with Dr. Omar García Brunelli with the support of the Carlos Vega Institute of Musicology and the Philadelphia Argentina Tango School in the USA.
He is co-founder of the Centro’feca (Argentine Cultural Studies Forum), an NGO dedicated to the investigation and dissemination of Tango, awarded the “Gobbi de Oro 2010” by the National Academy of Tango of the Argentine Republic and which is sponsored by UNESCO in different activities such as the International Tango Congress. http://www.centrofeca.org.ar/