Rodrigo Constanzo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rodrigo Constanzo | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | March 15, 1976 |
| Origin | Madrid, Spain |
| Genre(s) | Experimental Improvised Electronic Music Contemporary Classical Music |
| Instrument(s) | Piano Guitar Other |
| Years active | 1993 - present |
| Website | Official Website |
Rodrigo Constanzo (born March 15, 1976 in Madrid, Spain) is an experimental composer and multi-instrumentalist[1]. He was born in Madrid, Spain and moved to Miami, Florida at the age of two. There he began studying piano with his grandmother at the age of four. In high school he formed, and directed, the South Miami Senior High School Rock Band, which performed regularly at school functions. He graduated in 1994 and went on to study at Miami Dade College under Jane Pyle, Jo Foster, and Linda Fowler. While there, Rodrigo won, and placed in, several composition competitions, met future collaborators, and eventually earned an Associate of Arts degree in Music.
In 2004, Rodrigo formed failure, arc of beauty with Gilbert Kong[2]. The group would eventually grow to include his future wife, Angela Guyton, whose participation allowed for the exploration of the ways sight and sound could interact on a performance level. This is something Rodrigo always had an interest in and worked hand in hand with his passion for improvisation. It was improvisation which would lead to the formation of MUS2301, an improvisation-based collective that currently has several chapters, including Manchester, England, Miami, Florida, and Oakland, California.
Although he is classically trained, his primary interest lies in contemporary music. For the past ten years he has occupied himself by creating a number of instruments made from modifying electronic devices, in a process called circuit bending. As a composer he is heavily influenced by visual art, and tries to make each composition self-standing--each idea being a unique one, and demanding a unique outcome. The one thing that ties most of his work together is the surrendering of part of his control as a composer, be it in aleatoric or arbitrary decisions at the composition level, or through largely improvised forms at the performance level.
Rodrigo Constanzo has also worked in visual art[3], and pioneered the modification of the Polaroid i-Zone camera.[4]
He is currently involved in several projects, in addition to his solo performances[5], the main one being a performance art duo with Angela called Takahashi's Shellfish Concern. He also plays drums in Taihanis, and misc. instruments in April Fool, and has recently started a UK chapter of MUS2301.
[edit] Discography
- three paper clips (1998)
- The Beatles White Album (2007)
