Ariel Ramirez began his piano studies in Santa Fe, and soon became fascinated with the music of the gauchos and creoles in the mountains. He continued his studies in Córdoba where he met the great Argentinian folk singer Atahualpa Yupanqui. Following a suggestion from Yupanqui, he visited the Nordeste and deepened his research into the traditional rhythms of South America. At the same time continuing his academic studies as a composer at the Conservatorio Nacional of Buenos Aires. In 1946, with RCA, he made his first recording. He went on to study classical music in Madrid, Rome and Vienna, from 1950 to 1954. On returning to Argentina, he collected over 400 folk songs and popular songs and founded the Compañía de Folklore Ariel Ramírez. In 1964, Ramírez' composition Misa Criolla marked the beginning of a period of high musical productivity which also saw the composition of Navidad Nuestra (1964), La Peregrinación (1964); Los caudillos (1965); Mujeres Argentinas (1969), and Alfonsina y el Mar (1969), all written together with poet Félix Luna. Today, Ariel Ramírez is president of the Society of Authors and Composers of the Republic of Argentina (SADAIC). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.