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alcides lanza

alcides lanza was born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1929. He spent his early years in the small town of Timbúes, where his musical career was launched when his parents invested the proceeds from a winning raffle ticket in an upright piano. He subsequently moved to Rosario to live with his uncle, the renowed Argentinian writer Velmiro Ayala Gauna. Ayala Gauna was a mentor as well as guardian, and introduced him to the larger world of the arts, including music.

lanza graduated with a degree in electronics from the Industrial High School in Rosario, and began studies in architecture which were not completed, but which influenced his style of writing music. lanza subsequently studied classical piano with Arminda Canteros and Ruwin Erlich. Eventually, moving to Buenos Aires, he decided that his interest lay more in the art of composition, and studied with Julián Bautista and conducting with Roberto Kinsky. Lanza's interest in the avant garde music of the twentieth century was evident early on. He was always fascinated by the sounds "between the notes", and this led him to study and perform and write music which would explore this.

In 1963/64, he was among the first cohorts of young Latin American composers to receive a fellowship to devote himself to contemporary composition at the newly formed CLAEM (The Latin American Center for Advanced Musical Studies), a branch of the Di Tella Institute in Buenos Aires. This scholarship was open to young composers from all over Latin America, and was instrumental in contributing to the formation of several generations of young artists. While at the Institute, lanza had the opportunity to study with Alberto Ginastera (director of CLAEM), Luigi Dallapiccola, Oliver Messiaen, Aaron Copland, Yvonne Loriod, Bruno Maderna, and Riccardo Malipiero, among others. From 1959 until 1965 he was employed, as a rehearsal pianist for the ballet at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. At the same time, he continued to have an active career as a pianist and conductor of the contemporary repertoire.

lanza was a founding member of the Agrupación Música Viva, a group formed to play and promote the music of young composers then working in Buenos Aires.

lanza was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1965 to study electronic music at the Columbia/Princeton Electronic Music Centre in New York City. While there, he worked with Vladimir Ussachevsky and Ilhan Mimaroglu. After completing his fellowship, he decided to relocate in New York City. He received a Ford Foundation grant at this time. In New York, he was a founding member of the composers/performers group. This group staged numerous concerts, radio broadcasts and recordings in the United States, and actively promoted the dissemination of new works.

In 1971 lanza moved to Montréal, Canada to assume a teaching position in composition and electronic music at McGill University. He spent 1972 in Berlin, Germany as artist-in-residence for the Berliner Kunstprogramme of the Deutscher Akademister Austaunsdienst [the Berlin Art Program of the Office of Cultural Exchange]. Since 1974 he has been the director of the Electronic Music Studio at McGill. Recently, alcides lanza has been the director of the contemporary music festival at McGill University and the principal conductor during the festival of Latin American Music in Montréal (1982).

He has received commissions from the Donaueschingen Festival (Germany), the Foro Internacional de Música Nueva (Mexico), and from internationally known artists such as Leonard Raver, Bertram Turetzky and Per Breviq. He has toured Europe and Latin America as pianist, lecturer and conductor of the composers/performers group, with programmes devoted mainly to contemporary music and mixed media.

Today, lanza continues his very active career as pianist, conductor, concert organizer, composer, and mentor. He has staged two piano marathons at Pollack Hall in Montreal, in 1987 and 1992 - himself alone onstage playing over seventy-five pieces for contemporary piano and keyboards. This last featured lanza performing for five hours - non-stop - and included 48 different pieces for piano, electronics and film.

With singer Meg Sheppard he has formed Shelan Publications which publishes both scores and compact discs. The special orientation of both his performing and publishing activities continues to be music from the three Americas. The compact discs feature works which are rare, and not as yet recorded elsewhere.

Catalog of Compositions

Orchestral Music Chamber Music Keyboard Solo Guitar Vocal Music Choral Music Electroacoustic Music

Orchestral Music Chamber Music Keyboard Solo Guitar Vocal Music Choral Music Electroacoustic Music
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