Turibio Santos was born in
São Luís, Maranhão, and at the age of 10 was attracted to the classical guitar. His first teacher was Antonio Rebello , and later he studied with Oscar Càceres. He also studied composition with
Edino Krieger . In 1962, he gave his first recital in Rio de Janeiro, followed by a series of concerts all over Brazil. In the following year, the Villa-Lobos Museum invited him to play the Brazilian composer's
Twelve Etudes for guitar and the
Mystic Sextet, given its first public hearing. 1964 marked the formation of a duo with Oscar Càceres and several tours of South America. Turibio Santos decided to establish himself in Europe in 1965, in which year he won the first prize in the O.R.T.F.’s International Guitar Competition in Paris. His appearances in programmes on the
ORTF and the
BBC as well as his world première recording on disc of Heitor Villa-Lobos's “Twelve Studies” have made him known to the European public. Many orchestras have welcomed him as a soloist, such as the
Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, l’
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the
English Chamber Orchestra and the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1974, he joined
Yehudi Menuhin and
Mstislav Rostropovich in the opening Concert for the Creation of International Funds for Musical Collaboration organised by
UNESCO. Turibio Santos has been professor of classical guitar at UFRJ School of Music for 24 years, and the director of the Museu Villa-Lobos in
Rio de Janeiro since 1985 . == References ==