Miguel del Águila

Miguel del Águila (born September 15, 1957, Montevideo)[1] is an Uruguayan-born American composer of contemporary classical music.

Life

Three-time Grammy nominated Uruguayan-American composer Miguel del Águila was born in Montevideo. In more than 115 works that couple drama and driving rhythm with nostalgic nods to his South American roots, del Águila is considered among the most distinctive composers of the postmodern. His music has been performed worldwide by over 90 orchestras, by hundreds of ensembles and soloists, and recorded on 34 CDs. His training took place in both the Americas and Europe.

In 1978, del Águila moved to California, fleeing Uruguay's 1970's repressive military government. After graduating from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music he traveled to Vienna, where he studied at the Hochschule für Musik and Konservatorium. Early premieres of his works in Vienna’s Musikverein, Konzerthaus and Bösendorfer halls introduced his music and distinctive Latin sound to European audiences. In 1989, del Águila introduced his works in New York's Carnegie Recital Hall (now Weill Hall), and Lukas Foss conducted the U.S. premiere of del Águila's Hexen with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. CDs of his works were released on Albany Records and KKM-Austria by 1990, works including his Clarinet Concerto, "Herbsttag", and "Hexen". Del Águila returned to the U.S. in 1992, where soon The Los Angeles Times described him as "one of the West Coast's most promising and enterprising young composers."[2] He received the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award in 1995, and was music director of Ojai Camerata[3] until 1999.

Del Águila was among the first group of composers chosen by Meet the Composer and The American Symphony Orchestra League to receive a Music Alive Extended Residency grant, resulting in the 2006 opera Time and Again Barelas,[4] a partnership between the New Mexico Symphony and the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Joanne Sheehy Hoover of the Albuquerque Journal wrote that the opera “displayed his command of an arresting musical vocabulary, marked by a complex yet infectious rhythmic vitality.”[5]

In 2008, del Águila received a "Magnum Opus"[6] commission administered by Meet the Composer, for performances by the Nashville Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, and Winnipeg Symphony. The resulting tone poem "The Fall of Cuzco" was premiered by the Nashville Symphony conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero in November 2009. In 2008-09, del Águila was given the Lancaster Symphony's Composer Award. His "Choral Suite No. 2" for mixed chorus and orchestra was performed by the symphony, conducted by Stephen Gunzenhauser, in November 2008.

In 2010 del Águila received two Latin Grammy nominations, for the Bridge CD Salón Buenos Aires (for Best Classical Album) and for his work "Clocks" (Best Classical Contemporary Composition),[7] performed by Camerata San Antonio.[8] The recording received a Copland Foundation Recording Award in 2009. In 2015, he received a third nomination for his "Concierto en Tango" (Best Classical Contemporary Composition), commissioned, premiered and recorded by the Buffalo Philharmonic with cello soloist Roman Mekinulov, conducted by JoAnn Falletta.[9]

Miguel del Águila's works are recorded on Naxos, Dorian, Telarc, New Albion, Albany, Centaur and Eroica among others and published by Peermusic Classical. He lives near Los Angeles, California.

Compositions

Chamber Chamber works without piano

Orchestral

Choral/vocal

Piano and solo Instrument

Dance, film, TV

References

  1. ↑ Schleifer, Martha Furman. Latin American classical composers: A biographical dictionary. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1996.
  2. ↑ Woodard, Josef (1998-05-03). "He Needs a 25-Hour Day". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  3. ↑ "Articles about Miguel Del Aguila - latimes". articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  4. ↑ "|url=http://www.operaamerica.org/applications/NAWD/newworks/details.aspx?id=483". www.operaamerica.org. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  5. ↑ "NMSO concert review: del Aguila, ``Time and Again Barelas, April 21, 2006". infohost.nmt.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  6. ↑ "Sound Investments: The Commissioning Portfolio of Kathryn Gould". Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  7. ↑ "11th Annual Latin Grammy Awards". Wikipedia. 2016-10-15.
  8. ↑ "Sounds Heard: Miguel Del Aguila—Salón Buenos Aires". Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  9. ↑ Miguel del Aguila (2016-03-21), Interview Annenberg Radio Miguel del Aguila JoAnn Falletta - Mekinulov - Concierto en Tango Grammy, retrieved 2017-03-28
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