Antonio Barberena was born in Mexico City in 1962. He started playing the accordion piano system at the age of 11 years in a lyric way, at 15 he started with formal classes with the Italian teacher Sergio Rizzardi, changing to chromatic or botton system. In 1978 he gets the first prize in the 5th National Championship of Accordionists in Mexico city, a year later he enrolled in the Rizzardi Accordions Symphonic Orchestra.
From 1981 to 1987 he developed an intensive concert performer activity, participating in international events in cities such as Caracas, Venezuela and La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland and performances in several places from Navarra and the Basque City in Spain. He also recorded two LP records and founded the Quintet Accordions of Mexico City and actively participated within the Mexican Accordions Federation.
His performance in music put him as director of the group Trova del Tepeyac in the years from 1989 to 2003, playing the Mexican music in several presentations in the Capital and throughout Mexico, as well as four other discographic productions. For the 500 anniversary of the Discovery of America in 1992, he travels to South America to perform as soloist in Buenos Aires and Mar de la Plata, Argentina and Santiago in Viña del Mar in Chile.
For the 300 anniversary of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz death, he offered a concert in San Francisco Javier church’ in Tepotzotlán, playing for the first time Mexican viceroyal music in the accordion.
In 1995 he appeared in the Cathedral of Puebla together with the organist Víctor Urbán, closing the Grand Palafoxian Festival in a singular baroque accordion festival and a monumental organ. The same year he presented in Houston, USA in the World Accordion Festival.
From 1994 to 1998 the Ministry of Culture from Puebla, hired him to perform concerts of Mexican music in native communities throughout the state of Puebla.
In 1996 he directed and improved the chorus of the Basque Center in Mexico, a choral association with whom he travels to the center of the country and records to CD’s with Basque and Mexican music.
From 1997 up to this date, he collaborates from time to time with the Mexican Institute of Culture offering concerts to Mexican communities throughout the State of Mexico. In 2000 he promotes the restoration of the Historic Organ in the San Francisco Church of Coacalco, State of Mexico. In 2001 he recorded the first CD in Mexico with classical music in accordion covering five centuries of music.
He has performed with the Phylarmonic Orchestra of the UNAM, the Opera Orchestra of Bellas Artes and as a soloist with the Classical Orchestra of Mexico. Up to date he has been presented in the main concert halls of the city of Mexico and in most of the main theaters of Mexico.
His music has been played on TV and on the radio in the capital city. During his career he has played the world premiere of several works for accordion in Mexico.
In 2004 he was prized by the Mexican Basque Society with the title “Number One Member” in recognition for playing Basque music in Mexico.
Nowadays, since 2003, he has performed contemporary music together with the Marimba player Javier Nandayapa and Mirna Yam in percussion. His first CD was sold in the summer of 2006.
Today he is working in the third volume of classical music in accordion and a DVD of a life concert in the Basílica de Guadalupe. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.