Thilo Krassman

Biography
Thilo Krassman moved to Portugal in 1957 and initially worked as an accordion teacher at the Casa Gouveia Machado music school. In 1962, he founded the Thilo Combo, with Paulo de Carvalho, Fernando Rueda, and British saxophonist Don Byas amongst its members. In the course of the 1960s, he became a studio arranger and, somewhat later, he could be frequently seen leading orchestras in Portuguese TV variety shows. With Nicolau Breyner, he founded Edipim, an independent TV production company. Considered by many to be the father of modern Portuguese music, a street in Abrunheira, Sintra was named after Krassman after his death.

Thilo Krassman participated in the Portuguese Eurovision heats as an arranger and conductor on countless occasions; in 1976 and 1979, he was the musical director of the show. He conducted six Portuguese entries in the international Eurovision final: ‘Uma flor de verde pinho’ in 1976, ‘Dai-li-dou’ in 1978, ‘Sobe, sobe, balão sobe’ in 1979, ‘Chámar a musica’ in 1994, ‘Baunilha e chocolate’ in 1995, and his own composition ‘Antes do adeus’ in 1997; with the exception of the 1979 and 1995 entries, he wrote the orchestrations to all songs himself. As an arranger, Krassman was responsible for the 1965 and 1968 entries, ‘Sol de inverno’ by Simone de Oliveira and ‘Verão’ by Carlos Mendes.

In due course, a more extensive biography of Thilo Krassman will be published on this website