Arturo Márquez

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Arturo Márquez (1950-) is a reknown Mexican composer who is well known for using musical forms and styles of his native Mexico and incorporating them into his compositions.

Márquez was born in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico in 1950 where his interest in music began. The son of a mariachi musician and the grandson of a Mexican folk musician, Márquez was exposed to several musical styles at an early age which would be the impetus for his later musical repertoire. Sometime during his late childhood he moved to Southern California and started formal studies in music with the violin, trombone, and piano. He started composing at the age of 16 and then attended the Mexican Music Conservatory where he studied with Federico Ibarra, Joaquén Gutiérrez Heras, and Héctor Quintanar. Márquez was then awarded a scholarship, by the French government, to study composition in Paris with Jacques Casterede. Subsequently, in the U.S., he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and obtained an MFA in composition at the California Institute for the Arts. There he studied with Morton Subotnick, Mel Powell, Lucky Mosko, and James Newton. Although Márquez was already an accomplished composer in Mexico, his music started to reach the international stage with the introduction of his series of Danzones in the early 1990s. The Danzones are based on the music of Cuba and the Veracruz region of Mexico. In particular, Danzon no. 2 has received international acclaim and has catapulted the popularity of the composer. Danzon no. 2 was commissioned from Mexico City University UNAM and it was debuted in 1994, in Mexico City, under the direction of Francisco Savin. Due to the popularity of this piece, Danzon no. 2 has been nicknamed, along with Huapango of Pablo Moncayo, as the second national anthem by the Mexican people. It has also opened the door for the discovery of other pieces by the composer that are increasingly being performed by orchestras, ensembles, and soloists throughout the world and extensively in Latin America. Marquez's music has been performed and recorded worldwide by a variety of chamber ensembles, symphony orchestras and soloists. He has composed numerous scores for film and dance works. He has received commissions and fellowships from among others, the Universidad Metropolitana de Mexico, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Festival Cervantino, Festival del Caribe, the World's Fair in Sevilla in 1992, the Rockefeller Foundation and Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, CONACULTA. He currently works at the National University of Mexico, Superior School of Music and CENIDIM (National Center of Research, Documentation and Information of Mexican Music). He lives with his family in Mexico City.

[edit] Awards

Márquez has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, among them are the Medalla Mozart and the Medalla de Oro de Bellas Artes de Mexico, among many others. He has also been honored at several musical festivals throughout Latin America where his music has been performed extensively and has obtained a large following. There is an international music festival named after the composer in Caracas, Venezuela. His Danzones are increasingly being used for ballet productions throughout the world. Although regarded by many as a controversial composer for his use of Latin American styles in his compositions (nationalism), he is a popular composer among the Latin American public and is widely recognized as one of the most important and admired Mexican composers of his generation. The composer resides in Mexico City where he researches and composes.

[edit] Music

• Danzón No. 2, for orchestra
• Marcha a Sonora
• Espejos en la Arena, for cello and orchestra
• Danzón no. 3, for flute, guitar and small orchestra
• Danzón no. 4, for chamber orchestra
• Danzón no. 5, portales de madrugada
• Zarabandeo, for clarinet and piano
• Son a tamayo, for harp and percussion and tape (featured at the 1996 World Harp Congress), which, along with Música para Mandinga, is an electroacoustic composition
• Octeto Malandro
• Danza de Mediodía, for wind quintet
• Días de Mar y Río
• En Clave, for piano
• Homenaje a Gismonti, for string quartet
• Paisajes bajo el signo de cosmos, for orchestra
• Noche de luna, for chorus and orchestra