Events in the week following Thanksgiving - #1 Julio Estrada Residency at University at Buffalo - Masterclass and Composer talk to the public

In the week following the Thanksgiving holiday, the Center for 21^st Century Music is sponsoring several exciting events in the Department of Music at UB, including a residency by Mexican composer Julio Estrada, a lecture by composer Pablo Chin, and a public concert by Fonema Consort (Fonema will offer workshop/masterclass for UB composition students—more information about Pablo Chin/Fonema will be presented in the following Edge of the Center post!).

Julio Estrada, Mexican composer, historian, researcher, and pedagogue, was born in Mexico City in 1943. Following his composition training with Julián Orbón in Mexico (1953-65), he studied with a number of the most widely recognized figures in the concert music of the 20^th century, including Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen in Paris (1965-69), Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany (1968), and György Ligeti (1972). Estrada has served as a researcher in music at the UNAM Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas and helped design the Música, Sistema Interactivo de Investigación y Composición. He was recognized as a National Researcher by the Mexican Education Ministry (1984) and, with over 100 articles to his name, was the first musical scholar to be honored as a member of the Science Academy of México. 

                                    Julio Estrada - Chamber Music for Strings (Arditti Quartet & Stefano Scodanibbio)

Dr. Estrada has published on various theoretical topics, including a General Theory of Intervallic Classes, applicable to macro- and micro-intervallic scales of duration and of pitch. Many of his compositions are based on his discontinuum-continuum theory, which has been described as bringing together “...two different situations in the compositional process: continuous transformation of the sound and chronographical method, using strictly defined recording process in order to receive three-dimensional movements of the sound in the topological order.” (Manuel Salas) Estrada has stated, “The techniques and theories I have developed are based on mathematics and acoustics; the more neutral they remain, the better they serve the description of the imaginary : it is my ear---there everything is allowed---that gives birth to my music, which becomes the accurate, almost phonographic representation, of every detail coming from my inner hearing experiences.” His compositions offer new notational concepts which are available for other composers to employ. 

He is the recipient of the French award Ordre des Arts et de Lettres (1981, 1986), the Premio Universidad Nacional en Creación Artística (2000) and the Medalla Bellas Artes (2016).  He is professor of composition at the University of Mexico and has held visiting positions at such institutions as Stanford University, University of California, San Diego, Musikwissenschaft Institut, Rostock, the Sorbonne, and Darmstadt Summer Course. Estrada’s music has been presented in numerous festivals on the American continent, in Europe, and in Japan, and performed by leading ensembles and musicians such as Percussions de Strasbourg, Fátima Miranda, Barbara Maurer, Velia Nieto, Stefano Scodanibbio and the Arditti String Quartet. 

Julio Estrada will offer a composition masterclass for our PhD students on November 29, from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm at Baird Recital Hall, and then present a composer talk to the public from 2:00 to 3:40 pm in the same venue. These events are open to the University community and the wider public.

Mictlán by Julio Estrada

Julio Estrada Masterclass/ Composer Talk Information: 

🗓 Wednesday, November 29, 2023 

⏰ 10:30 AM - 01:00 PM - Masterclass

     02:00 PM - 03:40 PM - Composer Talk

📍Baird Recital Hall (North Campus)

💰Free