He has given concerts in the main auditoriums of her native country, being soloist with the Orquesta Clásica de Colombia, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá. In 2006 she won the First Prize in the National Violin Competition “Olga Chamorro” and the Special Prize for the best interpretation of the work of J.S. Bach.
Parallel to his training in the field of classical music, he is a passionate interpreter of the traditional music of Colombia. He has been invited to many festivals of this genre, he has made two recordings as a soloist and in 2005 he won the Best Instrumental Soloist Award at the Andean Music Festival “Mono Núñez”.
Since his arrival in Europe, Santiago Medina gave concerts in the most prestigious stages of the continent, among which stand out his debut as soloist at the Konzerthaus in Berlin with a recital dedicated to the music of contemporary Colombian composers and his performance as soloist with the Brandenburg Concertos by J.S. Bach together with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin at the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has also performed as concertmaster with ensembles such as the German Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra, the Detmold Chamber Orchestra and the Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Throughout his career he has developed an intense chamber music activity and has worked regularly with ensembles such as Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Anima Eterna, Les Talens Lyriques, Geneva Camerata, Ensemble Resonanz, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, Spira Mirabilis and Ensemble Continuum, collaborating with artists such as René Jacobs, Christoph Rousset, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Andrés Orozco Estrada, Ophélie Gaillard, and Jos van Immerseel, among others, and making recordings for radio, television and various record labels. In 2013 together with the trio La Cara Cosa he won the Second Prize at the J.S. Bach International Early Music Competition in the city of Berlin. In 2012 he founded in Warsaw the orchestra Musica Humana, dedicated to the historical interpretation of the repertoire of the classical period, and was until 2014 its artistic and executive director. Likewise, between 2012 and 2014 he served as a guest lecturer and guest conductor at the Innsbruck Conservatory.
His facet as a cultural manager, which he has combined with his career as a musician and with the strong bond that unites him to Colombia, has led him to get involved in multiple projects with a special interest in the relationship between culture and social transformation. He completed a master’s degree in Public Administration at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin and between 2015 and 2019 he served as a diplomat at the Embassy of Colombia in Germany where he was in charge of the areas of Culture and Press and Communications. Likewise, upon his return to Colombia he held the position of Regional Manager for Bogota at the Fundación Nacional Batuta.
He is currently professor of violin at the Conservatory of Music of the National University of Colombia and at the School of Arts and Music of the Sergio Arboleda University, where he is in charge of the violin professorship, the direction of the chamber orchestra and courses in harmony and counterpoint. He is also concertmaster of the Orquesta de Cámara de Colombia and the Ensamble Barroco de Bogotá, and a member of the Cuarteto Q-Arte. Parallel to his professional activity, he is pursuing a Doctorate in Music with emphasis in Performance at the University of Aveiro.