“My name is Guilherme Arantes, I am 69 years old, Brazilian composer, singer and pianist, with twenty-seven recorded albums along with 47 years of artistic career. I was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
I started my passion for music at age of six when I got a little cavaquinho, a Christmas present, and later a mandolin. I was then sent by my parents to study piano using a Fritz Dobbert brand. Piano has become my passion since then.
I am quite unique since my songs are pretty much all authorial. I write the songs, the harmony, I play the piano and keyboard and I sing them. I have registered close to 400 songs.
Many songs that I’ve written were recorded by major Brazilian artists, like Roberto Carlos, Maria Bethania, Elis Regina, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Leila Pinheiro, Nando Reis, Paulo Miklos, Fagner, Vanessa da Matta, Céu, Edu Falaschi amongst many others.
Since the year 2000, I belong to the Roster of Steinway Artists, the endorsees ́ Gallery of the famous piano factory of New York and Hamburg.
My composing style is considered a mix of pop, progressive rock, R&B, and much of the Brazilian heritage of bossa nova and “MPB”.
I have received many awards and special recognitions during my career. Many of my songs were in the top 100 billboard charts for decades. My main hit “Meu Mundo e Nada Mais” has been acclaimed by Rolling Stone Brazil as one of the 100 greatest Brazilian songs of all time. My 2013 album Condicao Humana got best album of the year in 2013 by Rolling Stone Magazine and Multishow Award and considered the album of the decade by Redbull Brazil.
In 2021 I released a new album “A Desordem dos Templarios”, composed in Avila, Spain. During the pandemic period, I have studied orchestration and baroque music, and those classical influences, besides the Middle-Age atmosphere of the city, have been deeply imprinted on the recorded material.
Most of the songs are sweet piano ballads, very organic, with many layers of acoustic guitars, creating a very personal and classic pop dressing. The title song “A Desordem dos Templários” is a mix of north-eastern Brazilian “Baião”, with strong Zabumba percussion, building a very peculiar blend of this folkloric rhythm with a progressive Rock structure, building up a complete suite of many parts, in a total of seven minutes of listening journey.
I am very proud to say that my songs have an incredible crossover between all social classes, admired both on and off stage by audiences and critics everywhere. Making songs that get deep into the heart and emotions of people is my spiritual gift.”