Carlos Rafael Rivera
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Growing up in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, and Miami provided composer Carlos Rafael Rivera a rich cultural base for his musical maturation. His works reflect the diversity of his upbringing as well as his love for rock, and the folk music of other cultures. From the Tibetan Buddhist chants of his choral work Motet for 12 Singers, through the orchestral setting of the Mayan myths of the Popol-Vuh, his compositions tend to be rhythmically charged, engaging the musician and audience at a visceral and emotional level. His music has been performed by some of the world’s most prominent ensembles, including the American Composer’s Orchestra, Chanticleer, and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet; recorded by Warner Classics, Sony Classical, and the Naxos labels; published by Mel-Bay and Doberman Editions, and awarded by the American Composer’s Orchestra, the Guitar Foundation of America, BMI, and twice ASCAP.
As a guitarist, Carlos’ recorded work includes performances on the feature soundtrack for Crash – 2006 Academy Award Winner- as well as studio sessions for Vagrant, Island/Def Jam, and Universal Records. He has performed live as opening act for The Who at the Hollywood Bowl, as well as with Grammy Award winning jazz trumpet soloist Arturo Sandoval. Carlos is also a second prize winner at the D'Addario International Guitar Concerto Competition.
Carlos has been artist-in-residence at the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as a sought out guest lecturer throughout the United States on topics ranging from his own compositions, the music of British rock group Radiohead, to the life and works of Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. A doctoral candidate in Music Composition at the University of Southern California, he studied with Stephen Hartke and Donald Crockett, and is currently mentored by composer/songwriter Randy Newman.
[edit] External links
- Carlos Rafael Rivera on MySpace (samples and news)
- Carlos Rafael Rivera Website (biography and news)
