Roberto Pansera (1932 - 2005)

As a child, Roberto Pansera played bandoneon and studied under Domingo Federico. Later, Piazzolla encouraged him to study harmony and recommended him to Alberto Ginastera who taught him composition at the piano and helped him get a scholarship to study in Italy. Pansera also played organ.

In the 1950s, Dizzy Gillespie heard Pansera play in Buenos Aires and invited him to travel to the US (the jazz pianist and film composer Lalo Schifrin also had the same experience with Gillespie). Pansera settled on the West Coast where he befriended the actor Jerry Lewis, but he returned to Argentina in the 1960s. In 1982, he was elected President of SADAIC (Sociedad Argentina de Autores y Compositores) and because of his many international contacts, he was able to open markets for Argentine composers around the world.

– Mirian Conti