Hilario Sanchez

Musician, arranger and composer from Chiapas, Mexico. He studied piano, marimba and trumpet. Moved to the country's capital in 1957; in 1962 he joined an octet of tropical music, with which he toured France, Switzerland, Italy, Mali, Senegal and Morocco. Back in France, he began his career as a jazz pianist in 1964, performing with Bill Coleman, Stephane Grappelly and Red Mitchel, and with his wife Micheline Chantin. In 1973 he recorded Vibraphonie, a record commissioned by French radio and television. He made two trips to Cuba, and then returned to Mexico, where he obtained work as a musical composer for plays. Shortly after recorded next to his wife the album Jazzteca, produced by Roberto Morales. In 1979 he wrote the music for the ballet Eréndira, inspired by the story of García Márquez. His works have been played by the Latin American Quartet and the Chamber Orchestra of Fine Arts, among other outstanding chamber ensembles. In May of 1991 he played his work "for eighty musicians", with the Banda del Conservatorio Nacional de México. He is also the author of symphonic works such as Dodecaforítmica (1986), Amor al arte (1990), Danza en Peyotepec (1990), Máscaras mexicanas (1991), Chiapas cantabile (1991), Paseo along a river ( 1992) and Mexico mezzo picante (1992). After Chantin's death he moved back to his hometown of Chiapas. In 2008, one day after work he disappeared and was never heard or seen of ever again.