André nasceu a 26 de Outubro de 1984, na Marinha Grande, Portugal. Formado em Direito, é hoje um compositor emergente com uma forte identidade e uma invulgar capacidade de trabalho. Em 2012, depois de concluir um curso de produção musical na ETIC (Escola Técnica de Imagem e Comunicação, em Lisboa), André Barros rumou à Islândia durante 3 meses para trabalhar no estúdio Sundlaugin, fundado no final dos anos 90 pelos Sigur Rós, no âmbito de um estágio profissional promovido pelo programa DaVinci. Mas respirar a mesma atmosfera que este projecto que tanto admira não o impediu de descobrir a sua própria voz como compositor e pianista autodidata, voz que possui agora as distintas marcas de uma identidade singular.
“Circustances”, lançado em finais de 2013 pela editora leiriense Omnichord Records, foi o seu primeiro disco a solo e mereceu elogios da imprensa especializada, apresentando no panorama nacional a sua visão musical, nostálgica, profundamente poética, tranquila e mágica. Uma visão apoiada em melodias fundas que evocam memórias mais ou menos difusas. Essa capacidade que a sua música tem de evocar imagens levou a que, nos anos que se seguem, vários convites fossem dirigidos a André Barros no sentido de contribuir com o seu trabalho para projectos audiovisuais. A sua banda sonora para a curta-metragem Our Father da norte-americana Linda Palmer (2014), com Michael Gross no papel principal, é um dos resultados maiores desse primeiro período de enamoramento pelo grande ecrã.
Vencedor do prémio para melhor banda sonora no Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards, atribuído no início de 2015, pelo seu trabalho na curta-metragem "Our Father", de Linda Palmer. O trabalho de André esteve também nomeado para o festival Hollywood Music in Media Awards, em Los Angeles, na categoria de melhor tema instrumental/clássico-contemporâneo com "Brisas de Outono", na edição de 2017 e com o tema "Autism" e a banda sonora que criou para o anúncio televisivo da LG Oled TV Rollable na edição de 2019. Ainda em 2019, durante uma cerimónia que teve lugar no Symphony Space em Nova Iorque, vence o prémio de "best song used in film / tv / game" nos Independent Music Awards, com o tema "Leda" que compôs para a banda sonora do filme com o mesmo nome do norte-americano Samuel Grover, produzida na Islândia. Para além destes prémios, viu ainda o seu trabalho em bandas-sonoras ser premiado no Oregon Documentary Film Festival (2017), Independent Shorts Awards (2019), Chautauqua International Film Festival (2019), Top Shorts Film Festival (2019), Queen Palm International Film Festival (2018 e 2019) e Southeastern International Film Festival (2019).
Tendo colaborado até hoje com produtores e realizadores de países vários como os Estados Unidos da América, Suécia, Japão, Islândia, Canadá, Índia, Alemanha, Espanha e Portugal, o seu trabalho não se resume à composição de bandas sonoras originais para filmes documentais e de ficção, explorando também frequentemente o universo da publicidade e dos filmes corporativos, tendo colaborado activamente e desde 2017 com marca globais como a LG, Stihl, Volvo, Volvo trucks, Renault, Prestige, Craft, DHL ou Dometic. André é ainda membro do júri do Finisterra Arrábida Film Art & Tourism Festival na sua edição de 2020.
André colaborou já com nomes como Myrra Rós, Dinesh Subasinghe, Rodrigo Leão, Valter Lobo, Catarina Ortins Dias e First Breath After Coma, tendo lançado o seu quarto álbum de originais pela editora UGURU, intitulado "Reasons" (2017) - com co-autoria da cantautora islandesa Myrra Rós -, depois de "Circustances" (2013, Omnichord Records), "Soundtracks Vol. I" (2015, Omnichord Records), "In between" (2016, UGURU). "Clairvoyance" (2020, edição digital), "Vivid" (2022, Omnichord Records), título editado, em formato vinil e digital e "Afloat", com o pianista de Jazz e compositor Tiago Ferreira (2023, Omnichord Records).
André Barros is an up and coming composer, with a strong identity and an exceptional capacity for hard work. André was born in the 26th October, 1984, in the city of Marinha Grande, Portugal. Educated in Law and with no musical background, he begins to compose his first musical pieces by the Summer of 2006.
In 2010 he decides to apply for the degree in musical production held on ETIC (Technical School of Image and Communication), Lisbon, which gives him, two years later, the necessary tools to be able to produce his own musics. In order to consolidate his gathered skills, André had the privilege of carrying out a three-month internship in Sundlaugin (studio founded by the icelandic band Sigur Rós), Álafoss, Iceland, filling the position of assistant to sound engineer.
In 2013, his debut album "Circustances" is released by portuguese record company Omnichord Records. "Circustances" was widely praised by the specialist press and introduced his musical vision into the national panorama – nostalgic, profoundly poetic, peaceful and magical. A vision that is based on profound melodies that evoke more or less diffuse memories. The capacity that André Barros’ music has to evoke images led to him receiving several invitations, and so he begins his journey as a film composer, writing his very first score for the documentary short-film "Wounds of Waziristan" by independent journalist Madiha Tahir. In 2015, Omnichord Records releases André's second album, entitled "Soundtracks Vol. I". This work compiles a selection by the author of some of the music themes he has been composing for films up to that year. In 2016 André decided to include, for the first time, vocals to his instrumental world and travels to Iceland to collaborate with the icelandic singer/songwriter Myrra Rós. From this collaboration results his third studio album, entitled "In between".
In 2015, he is awarded his first "Best score" prize, at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards for his work in Linda Palmer's short-film "Our Father". His original score for this short-film, directed by the american Linda Palmer - with Michael Gross in the starring role -, is yet another outcome of this recent love affair with the big screen. André has been recently nominated for the best "Contemporary-classical/instrumental" music award at both the 2017/2019 editions of the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. In 2019, André was awarded the "best song used in film / tv / game" prize given at the 17th edition of the Independent Music Awards, in New York, for his piece "Leda", composed for the original motion picture soundtrack for "Leda" (a film by Samuel Grover). Overall, André has seen his work on original music for motion pictures been awarded at the following festivals: Oregon Documentary Film Festival (2017), Independent Shorts Awards (2019), Chautauqua International Film Festival (2019), Top Shorts Film Festival (2019), Queen Palm International Film Festival (2018 e 2019) e Southeastern International Film Festival (2019).
Up to 2020, André has now collaborated with film producers and directors from the USA, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Iceland, Canada, Mexico, India, Germany and Portugal.
His work surpasses the film industry as he has been intensively working on promotional and corporate videos, some of them with well-known global brands such as LG, Volvo, Volvo Trucks, Renault, Prestige, Craft, Stihl, DHL or Dometic. He is also a member of the juri in the 2020 edition of the Finisterra Arrábida Film Art & Tourism Festival.
With musical collaborations that range from Iceland to Sri Lanka, André has released 6 solo studio albums so far ("Circustances" 2013, "Soundtracks Vol. I" 2015, "In between" 2016, "Reasons" 2017 and "Clairvoyance" (2020, self released), "Vivid" (2022, Omnichord Records), available only digitally and on a special vinyl edition, and "Afloat", along with jazz pianist and composer Tiago Ferreira (2023, Omnichord Records) and is currently working actively in the film industry.
Film music awards/nominations:
- 2020 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards LAIFF
Summer Award Best Original Score for The Left Behind (2015)
- 2019 Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA)
Nominee Contemporary Classical / Instrumental music for Autism (Sisterly, 2017);
Best song used in a commercial for Rising Melody (LG, 2019)
- 2019 New York Independent Music Awards
Winner Best Song Used in Film / TV / Game Score for Leda (theme music from LEDA's original motion picture soundtrack)
- 2019 Independent Shorts Awards
Winner Bronze Award Best original score for The Left Behind (2015)
- 2019 Top Shorts Film Festival
Winner Best score for The Left Behind (2015) March Award
- 2019 Queen Palm International Film Festival
Winner Gold Award Monthly Edition Best original score / composition for The Left Behind (2015)
- 2017 Oregon Documentary Film Festival
Winner Best Original Music for Sisterly (2017)
- 2015 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards
Winner February Award Best Original Score for Our Father (2014)