Francisco J. Núñez (born 1965

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is an American

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

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 def ...

, and the Director of the

Young People’s Chorus of New York City Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC) is a children's chorus based in New York City. YPC provides children of all ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds with a program of music education and choral performance and seeks to enrich the ...

. Núñez founded the Young People's Chorus in 1988 "to provide children of all ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds with a safe haven for personal and artistic growth." He is a 2011

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals workin ...

Life

Núñez was born in

, and grew up in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

and New York's Washington Heights neighborhood. He graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1988 with a B.S. in

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

performance. Núñez is the recipient of numerous awards in addition to the

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

, including a 2009 ASCAP Concert Music Award, the 2009 New York Choral Society’s Choral Excellence Award, and the 2005 Liberty Award from the

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

. He is a member of

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

. Núñez founded an annual festival called Transient Glory in 2001. Transient Glory features original compositions created expressly for YPC by award-winning composers such as

Paquito D'Rivera Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras (born 4 June 1948), known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established him ...

. The Transient Glory festival has been performed at leading New York City music venues such as

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

. Núñez also leads the University Glee Club of New York City, its fifth conductor since the all-men’s choir was established in 1894. He served as the director of choral activities at New York University from 2003 to 2010. Núñez served as conductor of the 2011

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Middle School Honors Chorus. Núñez wrote a piece entitled 'Forever Is My Song' for the event. On May 19, 2014, Núñez was awarded the NYU Steinhardt Distinguished Alumni Award (and received a tie custom designed for NYU by Salvatore Ferragamo). Núñez is married to Elizabeth McKinney and has two children, Sebastian and Sabrina.

References

External links

Official website
''PBS Newshour'', Jeffrey Brown, September 23, 2011

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunez, Francisco MacArthur Fellows American male conductors (music) Musicians from New York City Living people 1965 births 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians American choral conductors Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni