About the composer
José Evangelista
Read about the composer's composition/s
José Evangelista pursues an artistic path by which he has explored ways of making a music based exclusively on melody. Hence he has developed a heterophonic writing, both for instruments and orchestra, in which the melodic line generates echoes of itself and creates an illusion of polyphony.
His music draws its roots from an enlarged vision of tradition: To his Spanish origins (Evangelista was born in Valencia, Spain in 1943) he has added the influence of the Indonesian gamelan, the Western avant-garde and that of modal musics.
Evangelista began his musical studies with Vicente Asencio while simultaneously studying physics. Later work in computers led him to Canada. Settling in Montreal in 1970, he studied composition with André Prévost and Bruce Mather.
Since 1979 he is a professor at the University of Montreal where he created the Balinese Gamelan Workshop in 1987. He has been a founding member of several concert societies, has received several awards and numerous commissions, among others, from Itinéraire (Paris), the Kronos Quartet, the Groupe vocal de France, the SMCQ and the CBC.
His works have been performed in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia by groups such as Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt), the Nieuw Ensemble (Amsterdam), Music Projects (London), the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio-France, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, I Musici de Montréal, Esprit Orchestra and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Montreal).
Between 1993 and 1995 he has been composer in residence with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He recently premiered two operas: Exercices de conversation (Lyon 2000, libretto by E. Ionesco) and Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse (Montreal 2001, libretto by A. Nouss after J. Potocki).
Esprit Orchestra has performed many works by this important Quebec-based composer.
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