Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann
Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann is a Peruvian composer, naturalized Brazilian, who currently resides in the United States.
Biography
Born in Lima, he began musical studies at the age of six, continuing to study the violin with Luis Fiestas and Veronique Daverio. In 1989, he and his family fled Peru for Brazil during the rise of the Maoist Shining Path.In Brazil, he continued musical studies at Faculdade Santa Marcelina with Alberto Jaffe and Ayrton Pinto. In 1998, he moved to the USA where he obtained a master's degree at Florida International University as a student of Fredrick Kaufman and, in 2004 he graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University as a student of John Harbison and Lukas Foss
His music has been performed world-wide by ensembles such as the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Peruvian National Symphony, New England Philharmonic, Aspen Sinfonia, Orquesta Uninorte, Kyiv Camerata, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Klangforum Wien, Boston Musica Viva, Da Capo Chamber Players, Seattle Chamber Players, Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble Wien, Talea Ensemble, JACK Quartet, Mivos Quartet, Borromeo String Quartet, among others.
His awards include a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Jacob Druckman Award from the Aspen Music Festival, Aaron Copland Award, Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, "Bolsa de Artes" by the Associacao Vitae. He was a Fulbright scholar in Spain in 2016.
He has been in residence at The MacDowell Colony, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and as guest composer in several festivals in the U.S. and abroad. He is a member of altaVoz a Latin American composers collective. From 2004 to 2010 he served as assistant professor of theory/composition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he co-founded and co-directed N.E.O.N., Nevada Encounters of New Music and directed NEXTET, UNLV's new music ensemble. Since 2010, he teaches composition at Ithaca College.
Villavicencio Grossmann's music began to draw inspiration from Peruvian themes once he relocated to Boston, as demonstrated by his works Pensar Geométrico al Trasluz, based on César Vallejo, and "Siray". Other notable works include his three-movement solo violin piece La Ricerca della Spiritualità Trascendente, which takes inspiration from older models such as the flashy unaccompanied fiddle items of Bach and Bartok and his 2012 orchestral triptych "Anemoi", which was premiered at the Musical Premieres of the Season festival in Kyiv by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Most recently Grossmann has begun to incorporate Peruvian indigenous instruments in compositions such as Whistling Vessels.
Works
Solo Instrumental
Piano Sonata Prelude and Toccata for piano Prelude and Fugue for organ Omaggio a Berg for piano Alma for violín and electronics De Profundis for cello Mechanisms for piano La Ricerca della Spiritualità Trascendente - for violin Se Había Extinguido en Nosotros una Claridad for bassoon Sol Negro for organChamber music
Eleusis for cello and piano Quadros de Dom Quixote for flute, clarinet, bassoon and horn Elegía Póstuma for alto sax and piano La Sombra es un Pedazo que se aleja for string quartet Reflejos for soprano voice, flute, violin, contrabass, marimba and vibraphone Dialogues and Monologues for oboe and piano Dialogues and Monologues for clarinet and piano Dialogues and Monologues II for bassoon and piano Mecanismos for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion Movement for string quartet Hinterhof-szenenfor violin and piano String Quartet nº 1 String Quartet nº 2...a emaranhada forma humana corrupta da vida que muge e se aplaude- " String Quartet nº 3" musica funebre y nocturna Siray for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano Pensar Geométrico al Trasluz for recorded, cello and percussion Trio for violin, horn and piano Sialia for clarinet, cello and piano
Large Ensemble - Chamber Orchestra
Partita Concertante for clarinet, harpsichord, contrabass, percussion and strings Away for 14 players Sinfonietta for 14 players and solo sopranoString Orchestra
Pequena Suite Terpsychore Suite Concerto Elegiaco for piano and stringsSymphony Orchestra
La Leyenda Ayar Las Ruinas Circulares dance piece in four scenes Pasiphaë.Valdrada Anemoi- Piano Concerto
- ''Gravitacoes''
Vocal
No more walks… Noche Sombra de las Voces- ''Pequeño Responso''
Choral
Ave Maria O Quam Suavis The lower leaves of trees Yoshitada Songs SATBMixed Ensemble
Aude Dictum narrator, violin and pianoAwards
- Fulbright Scholar Program Grant
- Fromm Music Foundation Commission
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
- Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
- ALEA III International Composition Competition
- Jacob Druckman Award from the Aspen Music Festival for Pasiphaë for orchestra.
- Honorable mention for Pasiphaë for orchestra: in the "Lepo Sumera" orchestral competition in Estonia.
- Winner of Boston University orchestral composition competition for Pasiphaë.
- "Bolsa de Artes" of Asociação Vitae, of São Paulo, Brasil.
- Artist Grant, St. Botolph Club Foundation Boston.
- Aaron Copland Award