Ms. Banegas was a pupil of Renee Bonnet and Renee Pietrafesa in Montevideo, Uruguay, Lionel Rogg at the Conservatory in Geneva, Switzerland, where she received the Premier Prix de Virtuosite, and Marie-Claire Alain at Rueil Malmaison’s Conservatory in Paris, France, where she received the Premier Prix d’Excellence avec Félicitations du Jury.
Cristina’s intense activity as an organist has taken her to Europe, Latin America, the USA, Russia, and Japan. Her diverse recordings include J.S. Bach, and Spanish and Latin American baroque literature performed on period organs in Europe and Latin America, as well as some others as Conductor of the Ensemble Vocal De Profundis in Switzerland, France, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Bolivia, Argentina, Brasil and Uruguay. Many of these recordings have received notable recognition, as well as international awards.
Ms. Banegas has conducted many masterworks from the Baroque and Classical repertoire including Saint Matthew’s Passion ; Mass in B Minor; Magnificat; Christmas Oratorio, Cantatas (J.S. Bach), Vesperae della Beata Vergine (Claudio Monteverdi), Vesperae Solemnes de Confessore; Requiem and Mass in C Minor, K. 427 (W.A. Mozart), Messiah (G.F. Handel), Stabat Mater and Litany to the Virgin Mary (Karol Szymanowski), Budavari Te Deum (Zoltan Kodaly), German Requiem Brahms, London version), etc. For the Baroque works she gathered together orchestras of period instruments. All of these performances were given extraordinary acclaim by national critics who described them as landmarks in the history of Uruguayan music.
In 2007 Cristina received three distinctions: "Woman of the Year" honor in the national artistic contest; the "ALAS" ("Wings") prize for Artists; and the Foundation Bank Itaú First Choir's Award. In addition she has released four new CD’s ~ the first for the Bach Opera Omnia project at Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, Holland and the second for the Petrikirche in Freiberg, Germany (both in 2009). The third recording was performed on the 1906 Walcker organ at the Basilica of Paysandú (Uruguay) and features post-romantic literature from Germany and South-America. The fourth, an Italian edition, is a compendium with four outstanding international organists giving premieres of contemporary organ compositions.
Cristina Garcia Banegas may be directly contacted at cbanegas@internet.com.uy