Marisa Canales (born December 11, 1959) is a Mexican flute player. She was born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

where she started her musical studies; she later attended the University of the Arts in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, then Philadelphia College of Performing Arts (PCPA), where she studied with Adeline Tomasone (

Philadelphia Opera Opera Philadelphia (prior to 2013 Opera Company of Philadelphia (OCP)) is an American opera company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the city's only company producing grand opera. The organization produces one festival in September (Festival O ...

and

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

), and was awarded a bachelor's degree Magna Cum Laude (1985). A scholarship granted by the French government allowed her to pursue graduate studies at the National Conservatory of

Versailles, France Versailles () is a commune in the department of the Yvelines, Île-de-France, renowned worldwide for the Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Located in the western suburbs of the French c ...

; there she obtained First Prizes in Flute and

Chamber Music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

(1989) working with Jean-Michel Varache (Île-de-France and Lamoureux Orchestras) and with Jean-Claude Montac (Opera Bastille Orchestra). She has also attended master classes with world-famous teachers like James Galway, Jean-Pierre Rampal and

Geoffrey Gilbert Geoffrey Winzer Gilbert (28 May 1914 – 1989) was an English flautist, who was a leading influence on British flute-playing, introducing a more flexible style, based on French techniques, with metal instruments replacing the traditional wood. H ...

. Her musical activities include not only her performances as soloist with the leading orchestras of Mexico but also in chamber ensembles particularly with and guitarist Juan Carlos Laguna. The Canales-Laguna duo has assembled an exciting and original repertoire of new works, many dedicated to them, by leading Latin-American composers. Marisa Canales performs regularly with the leading Mexican orchestras: National Symphony Orchestra, National University Philharmonic, Carlos Chavez Symphony, Xalapa Orchestra, Querétaro Symphony, Mexico City Chamber Ensemble. She has recorded with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elemen ...

’s “Concierto Caribeño”, a work commissioned for and dedicated to her. She has also premiered and recorded a large number of flute works (over fifty), many written for her by leading American, Mexican and Latin American composers such as

Samuel Zyman Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

Eduardo Gamboa Eduardo Avila Gamboa (born December 21, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Mariachis de Guadalajara of the Mexican League. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays. He is a knuckleball pit ...

Eugenio Toussaint Eugenio Toussaint Uhtohff (October 9, 1954 – February 8, 2011) was a Mexican composer, arranger and jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th ...

Arturo Márquez Arturo Márquez Navarro (born 20 December 1950) is a Mexican composer of orchestral music who uses musical forms and styles of his native Mexico and incorporates them into his compositions. Life Márquez was born in Álamos, Sonora, in 1950 wher ...

, Armando Luna, Ian Krouse
Sean Hickey
and many others. Her CDs have been released by Urtext Digital Classics, Mexico's leading classical label, of which she is founder and artistic director. Marisa is also a distinguished recording producer, whose work has been recognized with a Latin Grammy nomination in 2001.

References

1959 births Living people Mexican musicians Musicians from Mexico City University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni {{mexico-musician-stub