Víctor Varela

Víctor Varela (born 1955) is a Venezuelan-Swedish composer based in Gothenburg. His compositions include works for orchestra, vocal and instrumental chamber music, with electronics and computer devices.

Education

Varela was born in Caracas where he studied musical composition, electronic music and piano at the National Conservatory of Music Juan José Landaeta, obtaining a degree in composition in 1987. Afterwards, he studied composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Composition Prize in 1993) and electronic music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Among his teachers are Antonio Mastrogiovanni, Eduardo Kusnir, Geert van Keulen, Ton de Leeuw, Louis Andriessen, Theo Loevendie, John Coolidge Adams and Trevor Wishart.

Career

Varela's music has been performed at festivals and events in major cities worldwide, including festivals like ISCM World Music Days, San Juan’s Biennial of Contemporary Music, Caracas Latin American Music Festival, Inter American Music and Dance Festival, Green Umbrella Series, Stockholm New Music, and Gothenburg Art Sounds.

In Venezuela he received the National Composition Award and the Caracas City Municipal Award. In 1996 his ''Second String Quartet'' was selected to represent Venezuela at the ISCM Festival in Copenhagen, and in 2005 his ''Axle-asimétrica II'' was selected to represent Sweden at the ISCM festival in Zagreb. He has written works commissioned by the Teresa Carreño Opera Theatre, the Venezuelan Society for Electronic Music, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, the Swedish Arts Council, Caracas Ensemble, Nova Musica Ensemble, STIM, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, Gageego!, Ars Nova, and Concerts Sweden.

Varela taught at the National Conservatory of Music J.J. Landaeta and at IUDEM, both in Caracas. He has also been a lecturer at the Universities Central de Venezuela, Simón Bolívar, Stanford, and Gothenburg.

Varela became a Swedish citizen in 2001.

Selected works

;Orchestral
*''El Cántico de Khronos'' for full orchestra (1987)
*''Two articulations'' for chamber orchestra (1992)
*''Gemini Delta'' for full orchestra (2012)

;Concertante
*''Axle-Asimétrica I'' for cello soloist and chamber orchestra (1997–98)
*''Syntax'' for flute, oboe soloists and chamber orchestra (2005)

;Instrumental solo
*''Archipiélago'' for organ (2002)
*''Batacumbele'' for bass clarinet (2000)
*''Crystals'' for clarinet (2000)
*''Luna en refracción'' for flute (2001)
*''Otoño-Occidente'' for piano (1994–95)
*''Jeux de dispersion'' for piano (2007)
*''Sabines Spiralis'' for piccolo (1995–96)
*''Viola pomposa'' for viola (2006)
*''Exit/entrée'' for double bass (2019)

;Chamber music
*''Axle-Asimétrica II'' for harp, vibraphone and marimba (1997)
*''Claro/ Obscuro'' for bass clarinet and harpsichord (1996)
*''Equinox'' for saxophone quartet (2002–03)
*''In between silences'' for trombone and percussion player (2003–04)
*''Miró-epsilon'' for alto recorder and marimba (1996–97)
*Second String Quartet (1994)
*''Canciones de solitud y utopía'' for flute soloist and ensemble (2004)
*''à trois'' for violin, French horn and piano (2005)
*''Online'' for bass clarinet and organ (2005)

;Vocal
*''Parola lontana'' for female voice and ensemble (1998–99)
*''La fraîcheur de la dernière vêprée'' for mezzo-soprano and percussion player (2001)
*''Calligrammes'' for soprano and ensemble (2001)
*''Canto III'' for mixed choir a cappella (2006)

;Ballet
*''Linear Dances'' for two pianos, two percussions & 4 dancers (2014)

;Electronics
*''Praeludium I'' for oboe, live electronics and tape (1988)Arocha, Marianela and Izarra, Adina (June 2009)
"Relationships between instrumental music and Electronic resources in the Venezuelan repertoire of mix music"
''Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Network Conference "Heritage and future"'', p. 3
*''Omaggio a Cortázar'' for mezzo-soprano & computer (1991–92)
*''Logarítmica'' for percussion player and magnetic tape (1994)

References

External links

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Swedish Society of Composers
(in Swedish)


(official website)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varela, Victor
1955 births
20th-century classical composers
21st-century classical composers
Living people
Modernism
Pupils of Louis Andriessen
Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni
Swedish classical composers
Swedish male classical composers
Venezuelan composers
Venezuelan classical musicians
Venezuelan electronic musicians
20th-century Swedish male musicians
20th-century Swedish musicians
21st-century Swedish male musicians