Vytas Brenner

Vytas Brenner (born 19 September 1946, Tübingen, Germany – died 18 March 2004, Salzburg, Austria) was a Venezuelan guitar and keyboard player. His family migrated to Venezuela in 1949. His mother, Margarita Brenner, was an opera singer. In 1959, his family went to Italy and later to Spain where he founded a folk band: the Vytas Brenner Quartet, with his brother Haakon Brenner (bass), Jordi Sabatés (drums, also a sound engineer) and Toti Soler (rhythm guitar). Later Jeanette joined them and they re-named as Brenner's Folk (and later Pic-Nic). They released an EP but soon after the Brenner brothers returned to Venezuela, where Vytas started a solo career. At 21 years old, Vytas went to Tennessee, USA to study at the University of Tennessee's Music Conservatory, where he was a pupil of David Van Vactor. Later, at college in Nashville, Vytas took post-graduate courses in Electronic music with Professor Gilbert Trythall, and graduated with honors in 1972. In 1971 he started a duo named Vitas & Mafe with Venezuelan singer María Fernanda Márquez. In 1972 Brenner formed his own band, La Ofrenda and recorded 5 very successful Albums until 1979. With Ofrenda he started his pioneer work and compositions mixing electric and electronic instruments (synthesizers) with acoustic instruments and piano; and blending progressive-symphonic rock, Latin rhythms, and Venezuelan traditional music, with outstanding results. In 1982, Ofrenda reunited and performed at the Teatro De Bellas Artes in Maracaibo, but was coldly received by the public. In 1989 the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra performed his work Oro Negro ("Black Gold") in Caracas at the famous Teatro Teresa Carreño theatre. In 1989 he released the album Amazonia. He was commissioned to compose works for Viajando Con Polar, a series of short documentaries about Venezuela's geography. He created music for various films, such as Adiós Alicia, Se Llamaba SN, and Román Chalbaud's Carmen La Que Contaba 16 Años. Brenner was also a very successful studio musician, composing and performing in countless radio jingles, TV commercials and presidential campaigns. Brenner died 18 March 2004 of a heart attack in Salzburg, Austria at the age of 57, while recording music for an upcoming album.