Colombia on Music Theory Print

Adolfo Mejía Navarro

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Adolfo Mejía Navarro (1905–1973) was a Colombian musician and composer. He lived and worked in Cartagena and Bogotá and spent time in New York and several European countries. His 1938 suite “Pequeña Suite para Orquesta” is notable for its inclusion of cumbia in the final movement. Biography Early life and education Mejía was born on 5 February 1905 in Sincé, in the Colombian department of Sucre, to Adolfo Mejía and Francisca Navarro. His father was a guitarist and notable singer. In 1916 Mejía moved to Cartagena, where he studied at the and sang in the choir of the San Pedro Claver church. Around this time he wrote his first composition, a piano piece called “Primicias”. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and letters from the University of Cartagena. Music career In 1923 Mejía enrolled at the , where he studied under Juan de Sanctis and Eusebio Celio Fernández. Concurrently he was a member of the Estudiantina Revollo, the Orquesta Eureka, and the Jazz Band Lorduy, and was composing in several traditional Colombian styles including fandango, , bambuco, and pasillo. Mejía moved to New York in 1930, where he formed the Trío Albéniz with Terig Tucci on mandolin and Antonio F

Alba Lucía Potes Cortés

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Alba Lucía Potes Cortés (born 1954) is a composer of contemporary classical music, and teacher at the Mannes School of Music, College Preparatory Division, in New York. Life Born in Cali, Colombia, she studied at the Antonio M. Valencia conservatory, and the University of Valle in Cali Colombia, where she studied with Leon J. Simar. In 1983, she moved to the United States. She graduated from Temple University degree in music theory, cum laude, and with a master’s and doctorate in composition. She studied with Matthew Greenbaum, Ursula Mamlok and Maurice Wright. She lives in New York City. Career Alba Potes’ compositions have been performed by the Montreal Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony of Colombia, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Venezuela, Darmstadt 2000 Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, the Symphony Orchestra of Cali, Festival Internacional Cervantino, International Alliance for Women in Music, the ISCM in New York, Parnassus, the Composer’s Conference at Wellesley College, the Network for New Music, Momenta Quartet, The Stefan Wolpe Society, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Institute for New Music in Freiburg, Germany, the ISCM in Seoul, South Korea and at

Aníbal Velásquez

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Aníbal Velásquez Hurtado (born June 3, 1936) is a Colombian singer, composer and musician, recognized for playing the accordion. He is also known by his nicknames “El Mago” (“The Magician”) and “El Rey de la Guaracha” (“The King of the Guaracha”). Biography Aníbal Velásquez was born in 1936 in Barranquilla, Colombia to parents José Antonio Velásquez and Belén Hurtado, and is the brother of the musician José “Cheíto” Velásquez. Due to the local rise in cartel-associated violent crime, Velásquez moved to Caracas, Venezuela in the 1970s and resided there for 18 years before returning to Barranquilla. In 2018 Telecaribe, a regional television network for the Caribbean region of Colombia, launched a bio-series as a living tribute to his career, called Aníbal ‘Sensación’ Velásquez. In 2019, Velásquez was reported to be seriously sick and was hospitalized in Barranquilla due to a severe lung infection. References External links * Aníbal ‘Sensation’ Velásquez Telecaribe series website

Emirto de Lima

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José María Emirto de Lima y Sintiago (25 January 1890 – 14 August 1972) was a Dutch composer, conductor, music critic and music teacher. Biography José María Emirto de Lima y Sintiago was born on 25 January 1890 in Willemstad, Curaçao, to Paul Quirino de Lima (1861 – 1926) and Josefina Sintiago. While living in Curaçao, de Lima was taught how to play the violin and piano by his father. Later while located in Barcelona and Paris, he was further educated by Felip Pedrell and Vincent d’Indy, respectively. De Lima later moved to Baranquilla to take up a music job offer originally meant for his father. De Lima was a teacher in a music academy in the city and was at one point the Honorary Consul in Barranquilla for the countries of Honduras and Liberia. He later released his first music compositions in 1911 and became a conductor for radio the following decade. Most of his works were in the Antillean waltz and Mazurka styles. In Colombia, de Lima became the first person to publish local traditional music, listing down songs and oral traditions around the country and released it under the title of “Folklore Colombiano” in 1942. He had also founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of Barranquill

Galy Galiano

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Carmelo Galiano Cotes, better known as Galy Galiano (Chiriguaná, Cesar, Colombia, 10 February 1958), is a Colombian composer and singer of romantic and tropical music. He was the first Colombian artist to appear in Billboard with three songs in a single listing. Biography He formed his first musical group Los Diamantes del Cesar with friends in the neighborhood where he played bass and composed songs. He currently resides in Chia, Cundinamarca. Discography * 1981: Frío De Ausencia - Coldness Of Absence * 1981: Galy Galiano * 1983: Alma Solitaria - Lonely soul * 1985: A Manos Llenas - Hand over fist * 1986: Brindemos - We offer * 1988: Celoso - Jealous * 1990: Dos Corazones - Two Hearts * 1991: Tu Amor Es Fuego - Your Love Is Fire * 1992: Solo Salsa - Just Salsa * 1993: Tres Palabras - Three Words * 1993: Sin Fronteras - Without Borders * 1994: Mi Son Latino - My Son Latino * 1994: Amor De Primavera - Spring Love * 1996: Me Bebí Tu Recuerdo - I Drink Your Memory * 1997: Deseos - Wishes * 1997: Bebiendo Para Olvidar - Drinking To Forget * 1998: No Volveré A Casarme - : I Will Not Get Married Again * 2000: Galy Galiano * 2001: El Sentimental De La Salsa - The Sentimental Of The Salsa

Guillermo Uribe Holguín

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Guillermo Uribe Holguín (sometimes spelled Uribe-Holguín) (17 March 1880 – 26 June 1971) was a Colombian composer and violinist and one of the most important Colombian cultural figures of his generation. He composed prolifically in many genres and founded the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia (previously the orchestra of the National Conservatory). Biography Uribe Holguín was born in Bogotá. His father was Guillermo Uribe and his mother Mercédes Holguín. While studying at the School of Engineering, he simultaneously studied violin with Ricardo Figueroa, and composition with Santos Cifuentes and Augusto Azzali, at the National Academy of Music. He became dissatisfied with his progress, and sought out a private teacher, Narciso Garay. He completed his engineering studies. In 1903 he visited New York City and for the first time he heard professional orchestras and opera. It was there that he started his series of 300 trozos, based on folk melodies, written for various instruments. In 1905 he was appointed professor of violin and harmony at the Academia. There, in December 1905, he conducted his Victimae Paschali for solo voice, chorus and orchestra. He obtained a scholarship fro

Gustavo Santander

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Gustavo Adolfo Santander Lora is a Colombian composer who has had great success at international level. He has composed over 200 songs for major artists like David Bisbal, Alejandro Fernández, Cristian Castro, Diego Torres, Ricardo Montaner, Sergio Dalma, Luis Fonsi, Rocío Dúrcal, Jerry Rivera and Carlos Santana, among others. He is also the brother of composer and producer Kike Santander. Biography He was born in Santiago de Cali, Colombia and he raised in La Flora, a typical upper-middle-class neighborhood of Cali. His father was doctor, poet and guitarist Flavio Santander and his mother is Judith. His brother is composer and producer Kike Santander. Gustavo Santander began his career as a composer in 2000. He was awarded three times by the American Society of Composers (ASCAP), at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York. In 2002 he was awarded for the song “Azul” (in Spanish: Blue), performed by Cristian Castro, in 2004 for the song “Entre el Delirio y la Locura” (Between Delirium and Madness), sung by Jennifer Peña, and in 2007 he received an award Regional Mexican category for the song “Se te olvidó” (you forgot), played by Pablo Montero´s Mexican artist. To this must be ad

Jacqueline Nova

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Jacqueline Nova Sondag (1935–1975) was a Colombian musician, author and composer. She is often cited as having initiated Colombia’s electroacoustic musical practices. Life Jacqueline Nova Sondag was born on 6 January 1935, in Ghent, Belgium. Her father was visiting Belgium from Bucaramanga, Colombia, to study to be an engineer, where he met Jacqueline’s mother. Upon his finishing his studies, Nova’s family moved back to Bucaramanga where she spent her childhood. In 1955 she moved to Bogotá. Nova’s mid-high social class in 20th-century Colombia traditionally prescribed that women learn to play either piano, guitar, or sing in order to be considered respectable ladies. Nova began learning piano when she was seven. She then traveled to Buenos Aires on a scholarship from the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella for further studies in composition at Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios. There she studied with Luigi Nono, Alberto Ginastera, Gerardo Gandini, Francisco Kröpfl, Francisco Zumaque Nova died on 13 June 1975 in Bogotá from bone cancer. Work After studying at CLAEM, Nova became interested in interdisciplinary experimentation with unaccompanied tape. Collaborations with other fields s

Julián De La Chica

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Julián De La Chica is a Colombian composer, pianist, and record producer based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a founding member of the independent record label Irreverence Group Music. He is known for his directed and written film Agatha, which made its debut as official selection for the 37 edition of the Bogota festival Bogotá Film Festival. Early life De La Chica began his musical career in the classical tradition, studying piano at the age of five in his hometown, Manizales. He completed his high school in Manizales and then moved to Europe. He began studies of humanities in Salamanca (Spain), and he also studied philosophy and metaphysics in Madrid. He undertook self-guided studies, in Bad Münstereifel, German Reading classical literature, composition, and the study of dead languages. He has been a Baldwin Piano Company artist since 2009. Career De La Chica was invited by the former President de Colombia and Secretary of the Organization of American States, Cesar Gaviria Trujillo to offer a concert at the Headquarters of the OAS in Washington. In March 2016, De La Chica debuted at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall. Dominican Tenor José Heredia premiered his cycle “Four Short stories

Kike Santander

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Flavio Enrique “Kike” Santander Lora is a Colombian-American composer, record producer, arranger and entrepreneur. Santander has composed more than 710 songs and has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. His work as songwriter and producer includes themes such as Let’s Get Loud by Jennifer Lopez, Abriendo puertas by Gloria Estefan, Me Estoy Enamorando by Alejandro Fernández, Mi Vida Sin Tu Amor by Cristian Castro, and Premonición by David Bisbal, as well as many songs recorded by artists such as Thalía, Natalia Oreiro, Gisselle, Edith Márquez, Luis Miguel, Soledad Pastorutti and the Spanish song for Eurovision Song Contest 2004, amongst others. More than 25 of his songs have been in the coveted Top Ten, as reflected in the Latin Billboard charts since 1999. More than 15 of his songs are featured within the top 100 played songs by the BMI Association of Authors and Composers. His songs and productions have surpassed 25 million albums worldwide His earliest musical influences came from a wide mix of genres that include indigenous artists of his native country. His main influences were bolero, rock and roll, Anglo-American pop, classical music and jazz. He studied music at the Cali C

Luis Fernando Rizo-Salom

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Luis Fernando Rizo-Salom (6 December 1971 – 21 July 2013) was a Colombian composer of contemporary classical music who lived and worked in Paris since 1999. He was also a high performance athlete, member of the French hang gliding team. Biography Rizo-Salom obtained a master of composition at the Javeriana University in Bogotá in 1998. In 1999, he decided to come to France to continue his studies with Emmanuel Nunes at the Conservatoire de Paris. Interested in computer music and new technologies, he followed the curriculum composition and computer music at IRCAM in 2005 where he made Big Bang for viola and electronics. Between 2005 and 2007 he was composer in residence at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid. He also received support from institutions such as the Nadia and Lili Boulanger Foundation, the Colombian government, the Academy Villecroze, foundations Meyer, Tarrazi, Legs St. Paul, and the Georges Wildenstein (Academy of Fine Arts). His works were commissioned by the Concert Hall Shizuoka (Japan), the French ministry for culture, the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, the Festival du Larzac, the SACEM, the IRCAM, Radio France and Steirisches Kammermusik Festival (Austria). He

Mauricio Buraglia

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Mauricio Buraglia (born 1954 in Bogotà) is a Colombian composer, recording-artist, musician-lutenist and theorbist of Italian descent, active in Paris, France. Biography Buraglia composed incidental music for Carlo Goldoni’s “L’Impresario de Smyrne”, for the Compagnol theater, and for the “Winter’s Tale” (“Conte d’hiver”) by Shakespeare, for the Amandiers theater. He collaborates with La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, Musica Barocca of London, the Ensemble Européen William Byrd, the Ensemble Baroque de Nice, the Ensemble Stradivaria, La Maîtrise de Caen, Akademia, Le Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Nancy et de Lorraine, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Marseille, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, the Académie Sainte Cécile, the Ensemble Marin Marais, A Sei voci, Ensemble Matheus and many others. Discography " Sylvius Leopold Weiss: Suites en do majeur 37-Si bemol majeur 4-Do mineur 27 Manuscrit de Dresde (cdbaby) " Sylvius Leopold Weiss: Suites en ré mineur 36 et do majeur 40 “Lobkowitz” Manuscrit de Dresde (cdbaby) “Sylvius Leopold Weiss:Suites en do mineur et fa die

Mesías Maiguashca

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Mesías Maiguashca (born 24 December 1938) is an Ecuadorian composer and an advocate of Neue Musik (New Music), especially electroacoustic music. Biography Born in Quito, Maiguashca studied music at the Conservatorio Nacional de Quito, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York (1958–65), with Alberto Ginastera at the Instituto di Tella in Buenos Aires, and at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. In 1965–66 he returned to Quito to teach at the National Conservatory, but then moved back to Germany to attend the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, and the Fourth Cologne Courses for New Music in 1966–67 where he studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen. He is regarded as one of the central figures of the Cologne School, active since the mid-1970s. Maiguashca worked closely with Stockhausen in the Electronic Music Studio of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne from 1968 to 1972, and joined Stockhausen’s ensemble for performances at the German Pavilion at Expo ‘70 in Osaka. He also prepared the recording of the collective composition Ensemble, organized by Stockhausen for the Darmstadt Courses in 1967. In 1971 he became a founding member of the Oeldorf Group of

Oreste Sindici

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Oreste Sindici (May 31, 1828 – January 12, 1904) was an Italian-born Colombian musician and composer. He composed the music for the Colombian national anthem in 1887. He was born in Ceccano (Province of Frosinone) and studied in the Ospizio Apostolico di San Michele at Rome. A lifelong admirer and supporter of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Sindici joined his army of redshirts to defend the short-lived Roman Republic in 1849 , after which he began a career as a professional opera tenor. Between 1856 and 1860, Sindici performed as first tenor in theatres in Lanciano, Rome, L’Aquila, Chieti, Cosenza and Avellino, before embarking on a trip to the Americas in 1861 that included stops in Cuba, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Curaçao . In 1862, he arrived to Colombia, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1887 he was asked to compose the music to a poem written by Rafael Núñez. The song was released on November 11, 1887, in commemoration of the Independence of Cartagena de Indias. In 1920 this song officially became the Colombian national anthem. Oreste Sindici died in Bogotá on January 12, 1904, after suffering from political persecution by the conservative governments of Miguel Antonio Car

Pedro Garcia-Velasquez

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Pedro Garcia-Velasquez (born 28 November 1984, Bogotá, Colombia) is a French-Colombian composer and co-founder of Le Balcon ensemble and BabelScores – an online library of contemporary music. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Garcia-Velasquez began his musical education through the violin at the age of seven. In 2002, he started studying composition at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogota under the mentorship of Harold Vasquez-Castaneda. He obtained his degree in 2006. In 2007, he moved to France to continue his studies at the Conservatoire à rayonnement regional de Boulogne-Billancourt with Jean-Luc Hervé. He was later admitted into the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP) in the class of Frédéric Durieux, where he graduated in 2013. In 2008, in parallel with his studies in composition, Garcia-Velasquez co-founded Le Balcon ensemble alongside pianist Alphonse Cemin, conductor Maxime Pascal, composer Juan-Pablo Carreño and sound engineer Florent Derex. In 2009, he co-founded BabaelScores, a digital music library, alongside composer Lucas Fagin. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Théâtre de l’Athénée between 2013 and 2018, at the IRCAM and ZKM on 2017, and at the Fondation Singer

Rafael Escalona

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Rafael Calixto Escalona Martínez (27 May 1927 – 13 May 2009) was a Colombian songwriter. He is considered one of the best vallenato songwriters of all time, though he could not play an instrument and rarely sang. He was a co-founder of the Vallenato Legend Festival, along with Consuelo Araújo and Alfonso López Michelsen. Escalona was a long-time friend of Gabriel García Márquez, who mentions him in One Hundred Years of Solitude, and described him as “the intellectual of vallenato.” Early life and education Escalona was born on 27 May 1927 in Patillal, in the Colombian department of Cesar (but at that time in Magdalena). He was the seventh child of colonel Manuel Clemente Escalona Labarces, a veteran of the Thousand Days’ War, and Margarita Martínez Celedón. Unusually for early vallenato figures, his family were wealthy. Escalona attended school at the in Valledupar, and there aged 15 he wrote his first song “El Profe Castañeda” about a teacher Heriberto Castañeda. Escalona left the school in 1943 after completing the third year of his , and started attending the in Santa Marta. After repeating his fifth year three times, Escalona left the Liceo Celedón without graduating in 1948, a

Roberto McCausland Dieppa

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Roberto McCausland-Dieppa (born July 6, 1959), also known as Dieppe, is a Colombian pianist, composer, and conductor, specializing in classical, jazz, and Hungarian music. His performances at various venues across the United States, Asia, Australia, and Europe, are noted such as Carnegie Hall, Ostrogskich-Chopin Hall, and the United Nations. Roberto became well known after composing and conducting Sinfonia Latina at age seventeen in 1976. Following Sinfonia Latina event, he moved on to classical performances, composing and conducting becoming a critical figure in music education for children, disseminating Caribbean music using folk idioms and dance rhythm, espousing Hungarian music and culture, particularly the music of Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók which he is most passionately interested. Biography Dieppa was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. He gained prominence at the age of 17 when he composed and led the “Sinfonía Latina” with the Barranquilla Philharmonic. In 1976, Dieppa blended rock, jazz, salsa, Spanish, and Caribbean music into a symphony, performed at the Municipal Theater to an audience of around 3,000. Conducting style A noted feature of the conductor’s style is his ability

Rodolfo Acosta (composer)

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Rodolfo Acosta Restrepo (born 1970) is a Colombian composer, performer, improviser and professor of music. Biography Born in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1970, Acosta studied music theory and composition in Colombia, Uruguay, France, U.S.A., Mexico and the Netherlands, at institutions such as G.M.E.B., Fondation Royaumont, STEIM and Berklee College of Music. Among his most influential teachers are Coriún Aharonián, Graciela Paraskevaidis, Klaus Huber and Brian Ferneyhough. Acosta’s compositions have received prizes and other recognitions at national and international levels. His music – both acoustic and electroacoustic – has been presented in some thirty countries of the Americas, Europe and Asia, has been published in score form by El Mercurio magazine, Matiz Rangel Editores, the Ministry of Culture of Colombia and the Francisco José de Caldas District University, and on CD by Editorial Musical Sur, ACME (Colombian Association for Electroacoustic Music), Quindecim Recordings, IDCT (District Institute of Culture and Tourism), the Colombian-French Alliance, the FJC District University and the Secretariat of Culture, Recreation and Sports, the Ministry of Culture of Colombia, La Distritofón