Alba Quintanilla (born July 11, 1944) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n composer, harpist, harpsichordist, pianist, singer, conductor, and pedagogue.

Biography

Quintanilla was born in

Mérida, Mérida Mérida, officially known as ''Santiago de los Caballeros de Mérida'', is the capital of the municipality of Libertador and the state of Mérida, and is one of the main cities of the Venezuelan Andes. It was founded in 1558 by Captain Juan R ...

, and had her first contact with music through her parents, especially her father,

n painter, sculpturist, and pedagogue Luis Felipe Quintanilla Ponce. At age 10 she matriculated at the ''Escuela Superior de Música José Ángel Lamas'', where she studied piano, harp, harpsichord, singing (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

), composition, and conduction; her instructors there included

Vicente Emilio Sojo Vicente Emilio Sojo (December 8, 1887 – August 11, 1974) was a Venezuelan musicologist, educator and composer, born in Guatire, Miranda. Biography Vicente Emilio Sojo was born to a musical family. Most notable was the fact that both his gre ...

, Raimundo Pereira,

Juan Bautista Plaza Juan Bautista Plaza Alfonso ( Caracas, Venezuela June 19, 1898 – 1965) was a classical composer. He began studies in medicine at the Central University of Venezuela but, with time, left in order to dedicate himself to music. His first teach ...

, Gonzalo Castellanos Yumar,

Evencio Castellanos Evencio Castellanos Yumar (May 3, 1915 – March 16, 1984), was a Venezuelan pianist and classical musician. He was an outstanding pianist, composer and director of choirs and orchestra. Biography His parents were Pablo Castellanos Almenar and ...

, Cecilia de Majo, Evelia Taborda, Lidya Venturini, and Pablo Manelski. She continued her music studies at the Conservatory in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, during one of her sabbatical years (1970). There, she studied with conductor

Ryszard Dudek Ryszard () is the Polish equivalent of "Richard", and may refer to: * Ryszard Andrzejewski (born 1976), Polish rap musician, songwriter and producer *Ryszard Bakst (1926–1999), Polish and British pianist and piano teacher of Jewish/Polish/Russian ...

and composer Witold Rudzinski. From 1982 through 1984 Quintanilla attended the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, continuing her postgraduate studies in composition with Prof. Helmut Weindland. Quintanilla was the first woman to conduct the

Venezuela Symphony Orchestra The Venezuela Symphony Orchestra ( es, Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela) is an orchestra in Venezuela, founded in 1930. They perform at the Ríos Reyna concert-hall in the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex. See also *Venezuelan music Severa ...

on November 18, 1967, premiering her ''Tres Canciones para Mezzosoprano y Orquesta'' (Three songs for

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

and symphonic orchestra), which was awarded the National Music Prize that year. She had previously conducted the choir and orchestra of the Asociación Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. She has been active as a pedagogue throughout Venezuela, teaching

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

, and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

in various conservatories and music schools until her retirement in 1990. From 1985 until 1990, she was the director of the Escuela Nacional de Música Juan Manuel Olivares in Caracas; she has also served as director at the Music Conservatory in

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(1980). As a composer, she has produced several

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

s and other vocal works. She has also written chamber music and soloist works, especially for the piano, harp, and trumpet. Her music has won over a dozen awards and prizes throughout her career, and she has also been honored with several Orders and Decorations.

References

1944 births Living people Venezuelan classical composers Venezuelan conductors (music) Venezuelan harpists Venezuelan classical pianists Venezuelan women pianists Venezuelan harpsichordists Venezuelan women classical composers Women conductors (music) Women classical pianists 20th-century classical composers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century classical pianists 21st-century classical composers 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century classical pianists Venezuelan music educators People from Mérida, Mérida Women music educators 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers 20th-century women pianists 21st-century women pianists {{Venezuela-composer-stub