Ileana Perez Velazquez is a Cuban-American composer and Professor of Composition at Williams College since 2000. She was born in

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especial ...

, Cuba, and then studied as an undergraduate in piano and composition from the Higher Institute of Arts (ISA), Havana, Cuba before moving to the United States for graduate work in composition at Dartmouth College and Indiana University, where she earned her DMA. Her work draws from a range of influences, which a New York Times review characterized having an "otherworldly quality mirrored in the accompaniment and sounding like a musical expression of the Latin American literary form magical realism." In contrast, one of her compositions performed in 2019, ''Tu, paz mia,'' was reviewed as "Processional and solemn, the work is Baroque in tone." She has been commissioned to compose works by many organizations, including the 2015 Commission from the

Fromm Music Foundation Paul Fromm (September 28, 1906 – July 4, 1987) was a Jewish Chicago wine merchant and performing arts patron through the Fromm Music Foundation. The ''Organum for Paul Fromm'' was composed by John Harbison in his honor. Early life Born in Kit ...

at Harvard University. She has written works for numerous performers and ensembles, including Continuum'' '' (New York City), Momenta String quartet (NYC),

Cassatt Quartet The Cassatt String Quartet was founded in 1985. Originally the first participants in Juilliard's Young Artists Quartet Program, the Quartet has gone on to win many teaching fellowships and awards and has toured internationally. Named after impressi ...

(NYC), ''

Ensemble Dal Niente Ensemble Dal Niente is a contemporary classical music ensemble based in Chicago, Illinois, USA that performs acoustic and electroacoustic chamber music. History Ensemble Dal Niente was founded in 2005 by a group of graduate student composers a ...

'' from Chicago Festival performances of her work includes venues such as the Sonidos de las Americas Cuba Festival at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, by the

American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...

Chamber Players, and the Composers Now Festival in New York City, but also in Cuba, the United States, throughout South and Central America, Europe, China, and the Middle East.

Recordings

* 2017 - A Cascade of Light in a Resonance Universe: Music of Ileana Perez Velazquez, Albany Records * 2008 - An Enchanted Being: Music of Ileana Perez Velazquez, Albany Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez Velazquez, Ileana American entertainers of Cuban descent American musicians of Cuban descent Williams College faculty People from Cienfuegos Dartmouth College alumni Indiana University alumni American women composers American composers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women academics 21st-century American women