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Composers
Jorge Montilla
Composer, ArrangerJorge Montilla (b. 1970) Considered one of the finest clarinetists in Latin-America and one of the world’s best Eb clarinet players. He is also well known as a composer and arranger for clarinet ensemble. Montilla holds a master’s degree and an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. He has taught at Arizona State University and was chairman of the Clarinet Department at the Conservatory of Music Simón Bolívar and clarinet professor at the Latin American Academy of Venezuela. He currently serves as assistant clarinet professor at University of Iowa School of Music. Montilla represents Rossi Clarinets, D’Addario Reeds, Clarinet classics, Gao’s accessories, and BG ligatures and keeps a hectic international career as a soloist.
Javier Montilla
Composer, ArrangerJavier Montilla (b. 1973) Caracas, Venezuela. Montilla has obtained his music education in flute performance from the System of Child and Youth Orchestras of Venezuela, the University Institute of Music Studies of Caracas (IUDEM, now UNEARTE), the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He has been an active arranger and member with diverse ensembles, and has also written pieces for various chamber formats.
Nicolas Real
Composer, ArrangerNicolas Real (b. 1969) is a flutist, teacher, composer, and a former member of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. He holds a master’s degree from Central Michigan University and a Doctorate in Musical Arts from Temple University. His works have been commissioned and premiered by flute ensembles in the USA and Venezuela, such as the Massachusetts Flute Choir, the Brannen-Cooper Fund at Brannen Brothers Flutemakers, Inc., and the National Flute Orchestra from Venezuela, among others.
Gonzalo Teppa
ComposerGonzalo Teppa (1968) is a Venezuelan double bass player, composer, arranger, and educator. He is a former member of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. As a composer, Teppa has written works for bass solo, bass and piano, bass and string orchestra, as well as bass and Venezuelan/jazz ensembles. A hallmark of his music is the notable fusion of classical, jazz, and folk Venezuelan music styles. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has taught for the jazz department at the Metropolitan State University in Denver and currently he is the double bass professor for the classical/jazz departments at the University of Wyoming, in Laramie. Teppa has studied with finest bass professors such as Luis Guillermo Pérez, Ludwig Streicher, Nestor Blanco, Paul Erhard, and Mark Simon. Teppa has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Matt Wilson, Ed Simon, Chris Potter, Tom Harrell, among others. He won the “Best Jazz Soloist Award” from Downbeat Magazine three years in a row (2004-2006). In 2014, Teppa was nominated with two Latin Grammys: “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album” and “Best Latin Jazz Album” for his participation on the albums “Tiempo” by Linda Briceño and “3rd Element” by Luis Quintero. Teppa has independently released five albums as a soloist, in which he presents himself as performer, composer, and arranger.
Orlando Cardozo
Composer, ArrangerOrlando Cardozo (b. 1970) is a Venezuelan multi-instrumentalist who plays the clarinet, mandolin,and Venezuelan cuatro. HIs performances as a soloist or member of ensembles have been praised in reviews in the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Martinica, U.S.A., and Venezuela. He is well known in Venezuela as a composer, receiving important awards such as second prize at the “Primer Salón Nacional de Jóvenes Compositores, 2001” (Venezuela) and honorific mention in the “Premio Municipal de Música, 2003” (Caracas, Venezuela). His output includes works for chamber, symphonic, choral, soloist, and electro-acoustic settings. Cardozo received a bachelor’s degree in composition (Cum Laude) from the IUDEM (Caracas) and a master’s degree in composition from the Simón Bolívar University (Caracas).
Raimundo Pineda
ComposerRaimundo Pineda (Maracay 1967) is a Venezuelan flutist, flute teacher, woodwind instructor, composer, and orchestral conductor. He has been a member of the National System of Youth and Children Orchestra of Venezuela since 1976 and a member of the “Simón Bolívar” Symphony Orchestra since 1986, of which he is currently a soloist. He is a flute teacher with the Simón Bolívar Music Conservatory, The National Flute School, and the National University for the Arts (UNEARTE). His catalog as composer includes works for mixed ensembles, 8 concertos for diverse solo instruments and orchestra, flute quartet and flute ensembles, and symphony orchestra. He specializes on repertory and technique with the woodwind section of the orchestra. He is an artist with the management agency Quatreklammer.
Luis Fernando Ruiz
Composer, ArrangerLuis Fernando Ruiz (1960) obtained his music education from the System of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela under José Antonio Abreu’s guidance. He was principal of the horn section of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra for over thirty years. His international music career has been active throughout several decades, as a performer, horn teacher, and brass section coach, in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He has conducted ensembles, bands, and symphonic orchestras in Venezuela and the Americas. He has also composed and arranged music for diverse ensembles. Currently, he is the director of the National School of Horn of the “Sistema” in Venezuela.
Paul Dukas
ComposerPaul Dukas (1865-1935) was a French composer. He started learning music at the age of 14, and studied in the Paris Conservatory in the class of Théodore Dubois. His body of work is not too large. He wrote a few pieces for piano, chamber and vocal music, a ballet entitled “La Peri,” the Cantata “Velléda,” and the opera “Ariana and Bluebeard,” among a few others, but definitely his best known piece is “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” He became professor of orchestration at the Paris Conservatory from 1910 to 1912 and from 1927 to his death he taught composition.
Amable Torres
ComposerAmable Torres (1860-1908) was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He was known as both a composer and a performer of traditional music. He played the 12-string bandurria and was famous for his ability to hear any new piece and repeat it with amazing accuracy. He founded and conducted a string ensemble called Estudiantina Venezolana. He also was a member of the group Los tres bemoles (the three flats) that performed traditional pieces from Zulia state as well as popular music of the time.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
ComposerNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) was one of the most important and influential composers in Russia. He was a member of what is known as “The Five”, a group of Russian composers, Mily Balakirev, Alexander Borodin, César Cui, and Modest Mussorgsky, who worked collaboratively and discussed their own musical works as well as the works of others. Rimsky’s main works were written for orchestra and opera, and his love for Russian folk music is noticeable in his style, also labelled by scholars as “Orientalism.” Anatoly Liadov, Sergei Prokofiev, and Respighi were several of his direct students, but he also influenced composers such as Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Paul Dukas.
Pedro Elías Gutiérrez
ComposerPedro Elías Gutiérrez (1870-1954) was born in La Guaira, Venezuela. Gutiérrez was one of the most important music figures of his time for his role as conductor of the “Banda Marcial de Caracas”, for about forty years (the most important symphonic band of the country), and his numerous compositions. He was titled “Caballero de la Real Orden de Isabel La Católica de España”, and “L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques”, among many other awards and prizes.
Camille Saint-Saëns
ComposerCamille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) is mostly known as a composer, but he was also an organist, conductor, and pianist. He was a supporter of the modern music of his time, although he later criticized Debussy’s music and the modern musical tendencies. His style is representative of the French Romantic music period. Saint-Saëns was a child prodigy pianist, attended the “Conservatoire Superieur de Musique de Paris”, and held important positions as an organist and teacher in Paris.
Heraclio Fernández
ComposerHeraclio Fernández (1851-1886) was a pianist, composer, journalist, and juggler. His father, Manuel Maria, gave him his first piano lessons, but he was mostly self taught. Critics considered him a fine pianist. He also taught a great deal, and in 1876 wrote a method for the piano entitled “Metodo para aprender a acompañar piezas de baile”. He followed his father’s footsteps in journalism, founding two newspapers on literature and music: “El zancudo” (The Mosquito) and “El museo” (The Museum), which published musical pieces.
Dallas Neustel
ComposerDallas Neustel received the Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees, cum laude, from Washington State University in 1994. In 2006, he graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a Master of Music degree. An accomplished clarinettist, Dallas has toured in concert throughout Europe and the United States, is recorded on five compact disc releases, and has appeared as a guest-clinician in 65 masterclasses. In 2003, he developed a bilingual chamber music presentation for 10 performances at American and German schools to over 1,500 students, and in 2016, he co-founded the experimental ensemble Agermos ChamberMusic Project.