Esteemed Mexican composer Mario Lavista (b. 1943) studied analysis with
Rodolfo Halffter and composition with Carlos Chávez and Héctor Quintanar
at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City. He then studied
analysis with Jean-Étienne Marie at the Schola Cantorum in Paris and
attended an analysis seminar with Nadia Boulanger as well as courses with
Christoph Caskel, Henri Pousseur and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He has won the
Premio Nacional de Artes y Ciencias, the Medalla Mozart and numerous other
composition awards. For recordings of his music, he has received the award
for best classical album of the year from the journal Viceversa and a
Grammy nomination.
Prof. Lavista founded the improvisational ensemble Quanta in 1970 in which
he has performed as a microtonal pianist. Also a writer, he founded Pauta,
one of the most important music journals in Latin America. Among his many
teaching positions, Lavista has been a professor of analysis of
20th-century music and composition at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música
in Mexico City since 1970. He has also frequently lectured and
participated in forums, seminars, symposia, and workshops in the Americas
and Europe and taught as a composer-in-residence or visiting professor at
Indiana University, the University of Chicago, the University of
California at Santa Barbara and the University of Wisconsin.
Quinteto Latino is a woodwind quintet focused on classical music from
Latin America. When they first discovered Mario Lavista’s wind quintet
"Cinco danzas breves" they were so impressed they added the piece to their
standard repertoire AND began to search for more of his music. Their
January 5, 2008 concert will include "Cinco danzas breves" as well as
"Marsias" for oboe and eight crystal glasses, "Madrigal" for solo
clarinet, "Responsorio" for bassoon and percussion," "Danza de las
bailarinas de Degas" for flute and piano, and other works.
Cost: $12/$8