Diego Modena

Luis Rigou (born 23 June 1961), also known as Diego Modena, is an Argentinian flautist, singer, composer and artistic director based in Paris, France. He is the founding member of South American musical ensemble, Maíz. Rigou is best known for his album Ocarina which sold over 14 million records worldwide and reached top 10 on the national record charts of 44 countries.

Early life and education Rigou was born in 1961, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Career Rigou began his professional music career in the early 1980s. At the age of 20, he collaborated with the Argentinian musician, Jaime Torres as the soloist and toured with him globally for three and a half year. In 1982, Rigou founded the musical group, Maíz. The group toured and performed all over the world and released two full-length albums by 1989. In 1987, Maíz performed at the Cosquín Festival where they were awarded with the Premio Revelación by Atahualpa Yupanqui. Rigou toured extensively with Maíz to the United States, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Italy and Uruguay. In the late 1990, he moved to Paris and joined Cuarteto Cedrón as a flautist. Cuarteto Cedrón were an Argentinian musical group based in Paris. With Cuarteto Cedrón, Rigou was introduced to the genre of tango music.

In 1991, Rigou collaborated with Jean-Philippe Audin, Paul de Senneville, Michel Polnareff and Richard Clayderman for the album Ocarina. The album was released by Polydor Records in September 1991. Rigou used his stage name, Diego Modena, for the album. Ocarina album series was very successful throughout Europe. In 1998, Rigou wrote the opera Les Archanges with the pianist Gerardo Di Giusto who composed the music. In 1998, Rigou collaborated with the French musician, Eve Griliquez and released the album, Le Chant des Hommes. The album received Coup de cœur award from the Académie Charles Cros. Le Chant des Hommes was composed in homage to the Turkish poet and playwright Nazim Hikmet.

In 1999, Rigou associated with Companyia Elèctrica Dharma as an artistic director for their project Raco de Mon.

Rigou and the French music ensemble La Chimera produced and performed the composition Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramírez in the year 2014. The show was directed by Eduardo Egüez. Misa Criolla was premiered at the Oratoire du Louvre on 27 March 2014 and France Musique aired the show. Rigou and La Chimera association continued in the year 2017 with the production of the project Gracias a la Vida, a composition dedicated to South American music. The album has been adapted on the stage as an opera as well as a mime performance. The mime artists, Los Guardiola adapted and performed Tango Secret at the Café de la Danse in the year 2020.

Recognitions 1997 : Special award by Fondation de France with Hélène Arntzen at the Biarritz Film Festival for the short film by the Médecins du Monde. 2007 : Ambassador of Peace for the town Lourdes, France. 2011 : Honorary Citizen of Culture by the city of Bahia Blanca. 2011 : Illustrious Visitor of the Arts by the city of Granadero Baigorria. 2013 : Illustrious Personality of Culture by the city of Buenos Aires.

Discography Maíz

1988 : Artigas, with Aníbal Sampayo, China Zorrilla and the Palau de la Música Catalana's choir 1989 : Viajero por la tierra

Cuarteto Cedrón

1990 : Tango Primeur (transverse flute)

Diego Modena 1991 : Ocarina 1993 : Ocarina II 1995 : Songs for baby Jane 1997 : Best of Ocarina 1997 : Alma América 1999 : Amalia

Luis Rigou

1996 : Flûtes des Andes 2003 : Corazón al Sur 2019 : Tango Secret, Luis Rigou & Céline Bishop 2020 : Quebrada, Luis Rigou, Laurent Compignie & Diego Pittaluga 2021 : Caminos de los Andes vol. 1 et vol.2

As an artistic director

1998 : Racò da Mòn, Companyia Elèctrica Dharma 1999 : Rodará el mundo, Marina Rossell 2000 : Temps de révoltes, Lluís Llach 2001 : Crier jusqu’à la fin du monde, Benjamin Fondane 2002 : Les chants des hommes, Eve Griliquez

As a flautist and singer

1993 : Nilda Fernández, Nilda Fernández 1994 : Compiègne, Nilda Fernández 1995 : Un pont de mar blava, Lluís Llach 2006 : Tonos & Tonadas, La Chimera & Eduardo Egüez 2008 : Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, Vicente Pradal 2015 : Misa de Indios, La Chimera & Eduardo Egüez 2016 : Medianoche, Vicente Pradal 2017 : Gracias a la Vida, La Chimera & Eduardo Egüez

Music for films 1991 : Karim et Sala by Idrissa Ouedraogo. 1992 : Voleur d'enfants for Christian de Challonge (music by Lluís Llach). 1996 : Rivière Espérance by Yves Boisset. 1997 : Médecins du Monde by Daniel Berthay (composed by Eduardo Makaroff and Helene Arntzen), received special prize at the Biarritz Film Festival (Fondation de France). 2004 : Caminos de los Andes