Composers & Arrangers

Jorge Montilla

Jorge 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.

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Javier Montilla

Javier 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.

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Orlando Cardozo

Orlando 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).

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Nicolas Real

Nicolas 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.

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Amable Torres

Paul Dukas

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Luis Fernando Ruiz

Luis 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.

Raimundo Pineda

Raimundo 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.

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Pedro Elías Gutiérrez

Pedro 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.

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Camille Saint-Saëns

Camille 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.

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Heraclio Fernández

Heraclio 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.

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Gonzalo Teppa

Gonzalo 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.

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Dallas Neustel

Dallas 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.

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Leonardo Deán Díaz

Leonardo Deán Díaz is a bassoonist, teacher and arranger. He is currently Principal Bassonist of the National Symphony Orchestra of Uruguay and a teacher with the Child and Youth Schools of Uruguay. In Venezuela, he was a teacher at the National Bassoon Academy, principal bassoonist of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and professor at the “Universidad Experimental de las Artes” (UNEARTE). He obtained a Bachelor’s degree from UNEARTE and a Master’s degree from the “Simón Bolívar” University, under the tutelage of George Sakakeeny. As a performer and arranger, he has made important contributions to the Latin American literature for the bassoon, especially about Venezuelan compositions. He wrote a thesis on “The History of the Bassoon in Venezuela” and a “Critical Analysis of the Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra by the Venezuelan composer Eduardo Lecuna.” He has participated as a soloist and jury in international competitions such as the Meg Quigley Vivaldi and the Gillet-Fox Competition, in addition to having participated in projects of the International Double Reed Society (IDRS), the Organization of American States (OAS) and the “Corporación Andina de Fomento” (CAF).

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was a musician, and his uncles were professional musicians as well. His musical training began at a young age under the guidance of his father and later his older brother, Johann Christoph Bach, who introduced him to the works of composers such as Pachelbel and Froberger. In 1703, Bach began his professional career as a musician, taking up the post of court musician in Weimar. He held various positions throughout his life, including organist at the New Church in Arnstadt and the St. Blasius Church in Mühlhausen. Bach’s tenure as Kapellmeister in Köthen was particularly fruitful, where he composed many of his famous orchestral works, including the Brandenburg Concertos. In 1723, Bach became the Cantor of the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, a position he held for the rest of his life. During this period, he produced a significant body of work, including the “St. Matthew Passion,” the “Mass in B Minor,” and numerous cantatas. Bach’s compositions are renowned for their technical complexity, intellectual depth, and artistic beauty.