Alejo de los Reyes began playing the guitar during his childhood, encouraged by his parents, who both taught at the conservatory in his hometown of Chivilcoy, Argentina. He was trained in classical guitar by his father, Oscar de los Reyes, while sharing a love for tango with his mother, Patricia Astarita. The roots of the family musical tree extend back to his grandparents: Héctor de los Reyes, luthier and guitarist, and Gaspar Astarita, tango historian and journalist.
When Alejo moved to Buenos Aires to continue his musical studies, he started playing in concert halls, as well as at tango dances and “peñas”, which are traditional Argentine social gatherings featuring folklore dance and music. He also began performing as a regular accompanist for relevant Argentine musicians such as Juan Carlos “Tata” Cedrón, Norma Peralta, and Rubén Llaneza.
In 2011, he began to tour regularly in Europe, performing both as a tango musician and a classical guitarist. There, his contact with harpsichordist Michel Kiener, luthier and researcher Luc Breton, and the musicians of the Ensemble Fratres, introduced him to the performance of early European music on period instruments.
The album “Al compás de la vihuela”, released on the Pasacaille label in 2022, presents all of these musical universes, where Argentinean folk music and tango meets Renaissance music played on three period guitars. It joins his other two guitar albums, Sobretarde (2017) dedicated to the music of Abel Fleury, and Tierra Querida (2011) featuring his arrangements of tangos for solo guitar. Alejo’s discography also includes collaborations with other notable artists/musicians. For example, he participated in the album “Jacinto Chiclana”, playing alongside Ciro Pérez, collaborated with the aforementioned “Tata” Cedrón in a soon to be released album, and recorded as part of the trio Fulanos de Tal. Leading the Cuarteto de los Reyes, he accompanied the most recent albums by Rubén Llaneza and Paula Serrano.
Alejo has had numerous performances in Argentina, the United States, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, Sweden, Lithuania and other countries in Europe and the Middle East. Among them, his presence in the 2016 Geneva concert series “Les jeudis de la guitare” (Thursdays on Guitar) earned him the accolade “the young Argentine virtuoso” from the Tribune de Genève. Other noteworthy performances include “Amarcordes” (2015) at the Chateau de Dardagny in Switzerland, his appearance with the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society in the United States (2018), and concerts in Spain at the Andrés Segovia Foundation in Linares (2014) and the Romanillos-Harris Lutherie Association in Sigüenza (2015 and 2018). He also played as a soloist in the festival “Les internationales de la guitare” (International guitarists) in Montpellier, France and led his quintet in performances at the “Festival y Mundial de Tango” (World Tango Festival) in Buenos Aires in 2012 and 2018.
In addition, Alejo has given private classes for almost two decades, an activity which fuels his blog with thoughts on music, the guitar, its history, and technique.
“La Posta,” an interview program featuring fundamental Argentine musicians, is another aspect of Alejo’s musical production. The initial season debuted in 2018, and the second season will be released in 2022. In addition, he performed in the short film “El arreglador” (2014), by Gerardo Panero, about the life of Argentino Galván, as well as in the Swiss filmmaker Andreas Fontana’s “Azor,” which received several awards.
In addition to some of his own compositions included on his albums, his work as a composer on the project “Mariposa del aire” stands out. Alejo collaborated with the graphic artist Isol to commemorate poems by Federico García Lorca for the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires.