KEYLA OROZCO

Biography Keyla Orozco

Keyla Orozco Aléman was born on September 22, 1969 in Santiago de Cuba. Education She studied piano and music theory at Conservatorio Esteban Salas in Santiago de Cuba from 1977 to 1984. From 1984 to 1988 she studied piano and music theory (Intermediate level) with Ileana Bautista at Escuela National de Arte ...
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Biography Keyla Orozco

1969

Keyla Orozco Aléman was born on September 22, 1969 in Santiago de Cuba.

Education

She studied piano and music theory at Conservatorio Esteban Salas in Santiago de Cuba from 1977 to 1984. From 1984 to 1988 she studied piano and music theory (Intermediate level) with Ileana Bautista at Escuela National de Arte (ENA) in Havana and graduated as a piano teacher and performer. From 1988 to 1993 she studied composition with Harold Gramatges at Instituto Superior de Arte and she received the diploma ‘Licenciada en Composiciуn’ (higher musical education). From 1995 to 1998 she studied composition (post-graduate) with Theo Loevendie at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam.

Activities

From 1993 to 1995 she taught counterpoint at the composition department at Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana. From 1994 to 2002 she worked as a private teacher (piano, music theory, composition) in Cuba and the Netherlands. In January 2002 she gave a lecture at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana: “Contemporary Music in The Netherlands”, about her own work and the influence by the European and Dutch music scene. In 2002 she became assistant of Theo Loevendie in Composition at the Amsterdam conservatory. In 2004, she co-creates the Stichting PerpetuumM, a foundation for promotion of Latin-American art and culture in The Netherlands.

Compositions

Her compositions are based on a mix of fusion rhythms, folkloristic and classical elements. In the Netherlands Orozco received commissions for various compositions: Perpetuumm (1996) by The Nieuw Ensemble; Extremes (1997) for Combustion Chamber by the VPRO Television; Arpa (1998) for Ernestine Stoop and the Nederlands Harp Contest (2000), Self-Portrait (1999) for Ensemble De Ereprijs, A-Quatro (2000) for Mallesymen Quartet, Décimas a Theo (2000) for Asko Ensemble and Para Variar (2001) for Mondriaan Quartet by the Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst; El Cuadrado (1999) for 4 trumpets and a work for symphony orchestra (2002) by Stichting Huismuziek; Frutas del Caney (2000) arr. for Nederlands Kamerkoor, Flutemos/Flauteamus (2000) for the Nederlands Fluitorkest and a work for recorder and live electronics for Susanna Borsh (2002) by the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst; XXI@slag-werkers.nl.etc.com (2000) by The Big Bang Festival.

Awards

In 1989 she was awarded the second and third prizes at the National Composition Contest for Didactic Music in Havana in the category Beginner's piano pieces. In 1991 Orozco received a National Prize at the Symphonic Composition - contest organized by the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). At the International Composition Contest René Amengual in Santiago de Chile (1994) she was awarded a First Prize in the category of children's music (Zéjeles de la Marinera) and a Second Prize in the category of chamber music (Eco y Espejo). In 2000 she received the Guggenheim Latin American and Caribbean Fellowship Award from John Simon Guggenheim memorial Foundation in New York and in 2003 the Cintas Fellowship for creative arts, awarded by the Institute of International Education in New York.

Keyla Orozco
2005

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