Pepe Danza

Pepe was born in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. His music career started when he was just 8 years old and started playing a guitar. When he was 13, he had already been playing pop and rock on a semi-professional basis. Although he was admitted to the National Music Conservatory to obtain a formal music education, the studies did not excite him. He left the institution while there was also a national war in the country and set on a journey, which turned out to be a musical and a spiritual quest lasting for decades.

The Japanese bamboo flute Shakuhachi came to his attention for the first time in 1978, when he lived in Washington DC. It was an amazing experience and turned out to be a love of his live. He started studying Shakuhachi with a master John Singer.

After years of wandering across the continents and studying traditional musical styles and instruments (sitar and bansuri v India, Brazilian percussions, African djembe, bouzuki in Turkey, guitar in South American and Spain; as well as jazz and rock/pop) Pepe has finally landed in Japan.

He called Japan his home for 3 years, intensively focused on studying shakuhachi with masters Tanaka Komei a John Zaizan Neptune. At the same time, he deepened his knowledge and experience with Zen Buddhism through stays at their monasteries. After leaving Japan, he spent half a year in Bali, where he loved to return often. He continued his musical education with studying gamelan and suling flute and co-created healing musical therapies with many musicians from all over the globe.

Following, his steps led him to Canada, where he settled for 25 years and continued sharing music, resulting in many national awards as an excellent musician, performer and composer of music for theatres and films, such as Victoria Symphony Orchestra and Intercultural Orchestra in Vancouvre.

He became a director of Vancouver Sacred Music Festival and eve played for His Holiness Dalai Lama. He shared a stage with numerous world-renowned musicians, such as Estas Tonne, Ani Difranco, Tom Jones, David Lindley, master drummer Trichy Shankaran, incredible Cuban ensemble Irakere etc. He released 10 solo albums and co-created hundreds of albums with and for others.

Past six years, Pepe lived in Tel Aviv in Israel, where he managed Prana Yoga College. At last, he moved to Slovakia, where he is currently collaborating with Zvuk duše.