Alcides Lanza
Encyclopedia
Alcides Emigdio Lanza is a Canadian composer
, conductor
, pianist
, and music educator
of Argentinian
birth. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1976. As both a composer and performer he is known as an exponent of contemporary classical music
and avant-garde music
. His works often utilize a combination of traditional and unusual instruments, and incorporate electronic sounds and extensions. He is also known for using special lighting effects when presenting his music. Many of his compositions are published by Boosey & Hawkes
, and Lanza himself owns his own publishing company, Shelan Editions. He is an associate of the Canadian Music Centre
and a member of the Canadian League of Composers
.
where he was a pupil of Julián Bautista
(music composition
), Ruwin Erlich (piano), Alberto Ginastera
(composition), and Roberto Kinsky (conducting). He received a scholarship from the Torcuato di Tella Institute
in 1963-1964 which enabled him to pursue advanced studies in music composition and electronic music
. He received further grants from the Ford Foundation
(1966) and the Pan American Union
(1967–1969) and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
(1965). All of these enabled him to pursue further training in the United States with such teachers as Olivier Messiaen
, Riccardo Malipiero
, Aaron Copland
, Bruno Maderna
, and Yvonne Loriod
.
. In 1971 he moved to Canada, joining the music faculty of McGill University
in the city of Montreal
. Since 1974 he has been director of that school's electronic music program. Among his notable pupils are composers Peter Allen
, Eli-Eri Moura
, and John Burke
.
In 1972 Lanza became the director of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec
(SMCQ), remaining in that role for only a short time. The SMCQ later commissioned him to write Plectros IV which was premiered in 1975 by Bruce Mather
and Pierrette LePage. In 1972-1973 he was composer-in-residence at the German Academic Exchange Service
in Berlin and he gave recital tours in Scandinavia and Germany. He went on to found the Composers/Performers Group, an organization who has garnered much controversy among critics for their multimedia presentations in cities like New York City and Montreal. In 1986 he toured Argentina and Brazil with his wife, actress and singer Meg Sheppard, in concerts of Canadian music.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, and music educator
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
of Argentinian
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
birth. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1976. As both a composer and performer he is known as an exponent of contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
and avant-garde music
Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....
. His works often utilize a combination of traditional and unusual instruments, and incorporate electronic sounds and extensions. He is also known for using special lighting effects when presenting his music. Many of his compositions are published by Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
, and Lanza himself owns his own publishing company, Shelan Editions. He is an associate of the Canadian Music Centre
Canadian Music Centre
The Canadian Music Centre holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music. The CMC exists to promote the works of its Associate Composers in Canada and around the world....
and a member of the Canadian League of Composers
Canadian League of Composers
The Canadian League of Composers is an organization formed in 1951 of Canadian composers primarily interested in raising awareness and acceptance of Canadian music. The activities of the League are overseen and directed by an executive and a National Council...
.
Education
Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Lanza received his initial musical training in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
where he was a pupil of Julián Bautista
Julián Bautista
Julián Bautista was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was a member of Generation of '27 and the Group of Eight, the latter of which also included composers Jesús Bal y Gay, Ernesto Halffter and his brother Rodolfo, Juan José Mantecón, Fernando Remacha, Rosa García Ascot, Salvador Bacarisse and...
(music composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
), Ruwin Erlich (piano), Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...
(composition), and Roberto Kinsky (conducting). He received a scholarship from the Torcuato di Tella Institute
Torcuato di Tella Institute
The Torcuato di Tella Institute is a non-profit foundation organized for the promotion of Argentine culture.-Overview:The di Tella Foundation and its institute were created on July 22, 1958, the tenth anniversary of the death of industrialist and arts patron Torcuato di Tella...
in 1963-1964 which enabled him to pursue advanced studies in music composition and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
. He received further grants from the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
(1966) and the Pan American Union
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
(1967–1969) and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
(1965). All of these enabled him to pursue further training in the United States with such teachers as Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
, Riccardo Malipiero
Riccardo Malipiero
Riccardo Malipiero was an Italian composer, pianist, and music educator. He was awarded the gold medal by the city of Milan in 1977 and by the city of Varese in 1984....
, Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, Bruno Maderna
Bruno Maderna
Bruno Maderna was an Italian conductor and composer. For the last ten years of his life he lived in Germany and eventually became a citizen of that country.-Biography:...
, and Yvonne Loriod
Yvonne Loriod
Yvonne Loriod was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod.-Life:...
.
Career
From 1959-1965, Lanza was a pianist and vocal coach at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. He also served as the President of Agrupacion Música Viva during that time. While studying in the United States during the late 1960s he worked at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center with Vladimir UssachevskyVladimir Ussachevsky
Vladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...
. In 1971 he moved to Canada, joining the music faculty of McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in the city of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. Since 1974 he has been director of that school's electronic music program. Among his notable pupils are composers Peter Allen
Peter Allen (composer)
Peter Allen is a Canadian composer, organist, and keyboard player. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, his compositions encompass a broad repertoire from film scores and commercial jingles to sacred music and avant-garde electroacoustic music...
, Eli-Eri Moura
Eli-Eri Moura
Eli-Eri Moura is a Brazilian composer, conductor and music theorist.- Career :Eli-Eri Moura is a professor at the Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil, in the undergraduate and graduate programs of music. He is also the director of COMPOMUS...
, and John Burke
John Burke (composer)
John Joseph Burke is a Canadian composer and music educator. As a composer he has written mainly works for chamber ensembles, and his music displays an acute sensitivity to instrumental balance and timbre...
.
In 1972 Lanza became the director of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec
Quebec Contemporary Music Society
The Quebec Contemporary Music Society, or La Société de musique contemporaine du Québec in French , is a contemporary classical-music organization based in Montreal, Quebec...
(SMCQ), remaining in that role for only a short time. The SMCQ later commissioned him to write Plectros IV which was premiered in 1975 by Bruce Mather
Bruce Mather
Bruce Mather is a Canadian composer, pianist, and writer who is particularly known for his contributions to contemporary classical music. One of the most notable composers of microtonal music, he was awarded the Jules Léger Prize twice, first in 1979 for his Musique pour Champigny and again in...
and Pierrette LePage. In 1972-1973 he was composer-in-residence at the German Academic Exchange Service
German Academic Exchange Service
The German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD is the largest German support organisation in the field of international academic co-operation....
in Berlin and he gave recital tours in Scandinavia and Germany. He went on to found the Composers/Performers Group, an organization who has garnered much controversy among critics for their multimedia presentations in cities like New York City and Montreal. In 1986 he toured Argentina and Brazil with his wife, actress and singer Meg Sheppard, in concerts of Canadian music.