Welcome to Alejandro Santoyo

Great grandson of revered Mexican anthropologist Manuel Gamio, Santoyo explores aspects of humanity in his own way. 

"...My compositions are stories told through music, music that evokes memories, desires, emotions, embedded in our minds, in our hearts, in our souls…" Alejandro Santoyo

"Alejandro Santoyo’s composition and arrangements are as expert as anything you can find in modern classical, while his light touch on the piano has the touch of genius about it... His compositions play the music to the film that takes place in the mind. It is visual, aural and spiritual, all at the same time… But mainly, it is music that comes from the heart and the soul, for the heart and the soul. It goes beyond words... It is Beautiful!"  Beatwire

Alejandro Santoyo has worked with major TV networks such as Televisa Music Publishing in Mexico and PBS in the US.  He has also worked on different media projects and has collaborated with several performing arts organizations. His compositions have been commissioned by dance and theater companies such as Shalleigh Dance Works and Bellan Contemporary Dance Theater (NC),  as well as Naropa University (CO). He's also written original music for Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It.  In 2019, his work was featured at the North Carolina Museum and the Levine Museum of the New South as part of a collaboration with film director, Rodrigo Dorfman. 

Santoyo is also a film score composer. Recently, he was commissioned to write the full score for a six-part PBS television documentary, “Fiesta Quinceañera” (the full film version was broadcast nationally on the TV program “Real South,” ).  His music is regularly featured on Televisa TV network.

Santoyo also writes for classical ensembles. His symphonic work "Child's Play" was performed at the Baldwin Auditorium at Duke University.

His last work, "Sonata for Cello and Piano in A minor Opus 38"  was premiered right before the lockdown in Mexico City. 

Composer and Pianist, Alejandro Santoyo is a World-Class musician. Alejandro (pronounced ah-le-hahn’-dro) has lived in Latin America, the US and Europe.. 

Santoyo was a member of the famed boys band Microchips. He toured extensively and performed regularly on Spanish-language television broadcasts throughout North and Central America. He moved on to performing in a prominent rock band in Mexico City and jammed with famous bands such as Guns N Roses and Poison. 

After earning his Masters degree in the United States, Santoyo decided to focus on his lyrical creative side and started producing his own music. 

His musical influences come from a wide range of classical composers including Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and Rachmaninoff, to film music composers such as Hans Zimmer, Michel Legrand and Ennio Morricone. A natural improvisor, Santoyo also draws inspiration from jazz pianists like Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea, but also pop artists and new age music.

Alejandro Santoyo is proud of his multi-cultural roots.  Today, he shares his life between the US, Mexico and France, working on a variety of exciting projects. He is releasing this Fall his 6th album Reflections, composed in the middle of the pandemic as a way to bring light and serenity. 

Combining energetic performance with raw talent, Alejandro Santoyo is paving the way as an influential Contemporary Classical Composer and Performer in the modern generation of music. He has performed internationally and was a guest artist of the "Festival Internacional de la cultura Maya in Yucatan, Mexico..... Since embarking on his career in 2010, Alejandro Santoyo continues to captivate fans with his signature sound, fierce passion, and unique performances. You will be hooked from the first note.

"A Bach-like elegance of form, arrangement and execution is Alejandro Santoyo's forte..." - John Payne (LA Times)

"Those who see him perform live are in for a real treat as he engages with his audience on a very unique level."  (NY Times)