Gustavo Díaz-Jerez (27 February 1970,

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

) is a Spanish

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Biography

Gustavo Díaz-Jerez studied piano with J. A. Rodriguez at the Conservatorio Superior of

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...

, and subsequently with Solomon Mikowsky at

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

in New York City. He has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, South America, the UK and the US. He has collaborated with conductors such as

Ivan Fischer Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

, Victor Pablo,

Gunther Herbig Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther ( gmh, Gunther) or Gunnar ( non, Gunnarr), was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they ...

Adrian Leaper Adrian Leaper (born 1953) is an English conductor. Biography Leaper studied horn and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music and for eight years was co-principal horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra. He was Principal Conductor of the ''Orquesta ...

, José R. Encinar, etc., with orchestras such as the

Budapest Festival Orchestra The Budapest Festival Orchestra ( Hungarian: ''Budapesti Fesztiválzenekar'') was formed in 1983 by Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis, with musicians "drawn from the cream of Hungary's younger players", as ''The Times'' put it. Its aim was to make ...

, as well as the major Spanish orchestras (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Galicia, Nacional de Cataluña, Castilla y León, Sinfónica de Madrid). He has been invited to play at various international music festivals, including the Festival Internacional de Canarias,

Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron The Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron is an international piano festival, founded in 1980 by Paul Onoratini (1920–2010), then mayor of La Roque-d'Anthéron and , then an intern at the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs, seeking to create ...

, Quincena Musical Donostiarra,

Festival Internacional de Santander The Festival Internacional de Santander (FIS) is one of Spain's oldest music festivals. Each year, during the month of August it presents two to three operas as well as performances from visiting ballet and theatre companies, solo recitals, and ch ...

, among others. He studied composition with Giampaolo Bracali and

Ludmila Ulehla Ludmila Ulehla (1923–2009) was an American composer and music educator. Biography Ludmila Ulehla was born in Flushing, Queens, New York. She began the study of piano and violin very early and wrote short compositions at the age of five. ...

at Manhattan School of Music. His compositional language may be defined as “ algorithmic

spectralism Spectral music uses the acoustic properties of sound – or sound spectra – as a basis for composition. Definition Defined in technical language, spectral music is an acoustic musical practice where compositional decisions are often inform ...

”, merging elements of the spectralist movement ( Grisey, Murail, Radulescu, etc.), in which timbre plays a fundamental role, with processes derived from mathematical disciplines such as

cellular automata A cellular automaton (pl. cellular automata, abbrev. CA) is a discrete model of computation studied in automata theory. Cellular automata are also called cellular spaces, tessellation automata, homogeneous structures, cellular structures, tessel ...

L-systems An L-system or Lindenmayer system is a parallel rewriting system and a type of formal grammar. An L-system consists of an alphabet of symbols that can be used to make strings, a collection of production rules that expand each symbol into some ...

fractal In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illu ...

genetic algorithms In computer science and operations research, a genetic algorithm (GA) is a metaheuristic inspired by the process of natural selection that belongs to the larger class of evolutionary algorithms (EA). Genetic algorithms are commonly used to gene ...

number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic function, integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777� ...

, spectrum analysis,

additive synthesis Additive synthesis is a sound synthesis technique that creates timbre by adding sine waves together. The timbre of musical instruments can be considered in the light of Fourier series, Fourier theory to consist of multiple harmonic or inharmoni ...

psychoacoustics Psychoacoustics is the branch of psychophysics involving the scientific study of sound perception and audiology—how humans perceive various sounds. More specifically, it is the branch of science studying the psychological responses associated wit ...

, etc. Needless to say, the use of the computer is indispensable, usually producing results in the form of electronic music. However, his main interest is not in

electroacoustics Acoustical engineering (also known as acoustic engineering) is the branch of engineering dealing with sound and vibration. It includes the application of acoustics, the science of sound and vibration, in technology. Acoustical engineers are typical ...

, but to “transcribe” these results using traditional instruments. This requires a very careful and elaborate process of quantization of melodic, rhythmic and timbre elements, so it can be adequately performed by human players. These transformations, however, leave intact the essence of the original process. His works are currently published b
Composers Edition
A programmer as well, he has written the PC

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...

progra
FractMus
which explores

and generative processes for music composition. His articles on the subject have been published by specialized magazines such a
Electronic Musician
and MIT's

Leonardo Music Journal ''Leonardo Music Journal'' is an annual multimedia peer-reviewed academic journal (print and audio CD) published by the MIT Press on behalf of Leonardo, The International Society of the Arts, Sciences and Technology. The journal was established i ...

. Since 2002, he is a professor of piano at the Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco
Musikene
He is also a member of the Real Academia Canaria de Bellas Artes. An enthusiast of

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

, he has created the first YouTub
channel for classical music
exclusively in VR.

Selected works

;Orchestral *''Ricercare: D. Schostakovitch in Memoriam'' for viola d'amore and string orchestra *'' Ymarxa'' for orchestra *''

Aranfaybo ''Aranfaybo'' is a work of classical music scored for chamber orchestra written by the Spanish composer and pianist Gustavo Díaz-Jerez. ''Aranfaybo'' was one of the gods in the mythology of the Bimbaches, aborigines of the island of El Hierro in ...

'' for chamber orchestra *''Havan'', concerto for

viola d'amore The viola d'amore (; Italian for "viol of love") is a 7- or 6- stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin. Structure and sound The viol ...

and chamber orchestra *'' Ayssuragan'', symphonic poem for clarinet and orchestra ;Chamber music *''Trio'' for violin, cello and piano *''Sidhe'', for violin, viola, cello and piano four-hands *Sonata for violin and piano *Sonata for viola and piano (2003) *''Partita'' for

, piano, vibraphone, marimba and multi percussion *''Ricercare: D. Schostakovitch in Memoriam'' for viola d'amore and piano *''Dhyana'' for viola d'amore and piano *''Akhkhazu'' for alto saxophone and piano *''Plerion'' for trumpet and piano *''Tiamat'' for violin, viola, cello, double bass, and piano *''Three Pieces'' for clarinet and piano *''Tephra'' for violin, viola, cello, and piano *''Songs of Garajonay'' for voice and ensemble *''Olokun'' for marimba duo ;Solo instrumental *''Gehenna'' for piano solo *''Phase Space'' for viola d'amore *''Nous'' for solo flute * ''Metaludios'', Book I *''Metaludios'', Book II *''Metaludios'', Book III *''Metaludios'', Book IV *''Metaludios'', Book V ;Vocal *''Zenith'', for violin, viola, cello, flute, harp and voice *''Songs of Garajonay'', for voice and piano *''Nudo de luz'', for voice sextet ;Opera * ''La casa imaginaria''

Personal life

He married Belinda Sánchez Mozo and their son is Pablo Díaz Sánchez.

References

External links

Personal website (in Spanish and English)Fractal Music PressFractMus website (in English)Youtube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz-Jerez, Gustavo 1970 births Living people Spanish classical pianists Male classical pianists Spanish composers Spanish male composers Manhattan School of Music alumni Maria Canals International Music Competition prize-winners People from Tenerife 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century male musicians