bio — gabriel josé bolaños chamorro

^{Photos by Curtis Perry}

Gabriel José Bolaños (b. 1984 Bogotá, Colombia) is a Nicaraguan-American composer of solo, chamber, orchestral and electroacoustic music. He frequently collaborates closely with performers, and enjoys writing music that explores unusual structures and timbres. He is interested in computer-assisted-composition, auditory perception, linguistics, and modular synthesizers. He enjoys listening to music by Saariaho, Romitelli, Grisey, Gubaidulina, Harvey, León, Os Mutantes, Ciani, Wishart, Simon Diaz, Yupanqui and Sabicas.

Recent projects include a grant from the AZ Commission on the Arts to deveop computer-assisted-composition tools for the creation and realization of polytemporal music, a residency at CIRM with a commission for ensemble C. Barré for festival MANCA in Nice, France, a collection of audiovisual vignettes titled The Grand Transparents, a collaboration with Bassoonist Dana Jessen for solo bassoon and electronics called Los Minúsculos, and Charity and Love, an album with jazz pianist Frank Carlberg inspired by the music and voice of Mary Lou Williams.

Bolaños received a BA in Music from Columbia University and a PhD in Music Theory and Composition from UC Davis. His principal composition teachers include Mika Pelo, Pablo Ortiz, Laurie San Martin, Fabien Lévy and Sebastian Currier, and he studied orchestration with Tristan Murail. He also attended the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau (France), SICPP (Boston), Atlantic Music Festival (Maine), New Music on the Point (Vermont), Festival Mixtur (Barcelona) and SPLICE Institute (Michigan).

Bolaños is Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, where he teaches courses in composition, music technology, analysis, and acoustics. Bolaños serves as the coordinator of the ASU electronic music studios, and is co-director of annual the PRISMS contemporary music festival. Before coming to ASU, he was visiting lecturer at Bates College for the 2018-2019 academic year and taught courses in music theory and music technology. As a 2016-17 Fulbright Visiting Scholar in Nicaragua, he was composer-in-residence and visiting conductor for the UPOLI Conservatory Orchestra, and visiting professor at the UPOLI Conservatory of Music. He was co-founder and artistic director of Proyecto Eco, Nicaragua’s first new-music ensemble. He has also helped organize artistic and cultural exchanges between US and Nicaraguan musicians. Beyond his work as a teacher and composer of concert music, he has also written music for film, theater and dance, and has experience performing as a flamenco dance accompanist.

Biografía en español:
Gabriel José Bolaños (n. 1984 en Bogotá Colombia) es un compositor nicaragüense-norteamericano de música de cámara, sinfónica y electroacústica. Obtuvo un doctorado en composición y teoría musical de la Universidad de California, Davis, y una licenciatura en música de la Universidad de Columbia en Nueva York. Le gusta explorar nuevos timbres y estructuras musicales, y le interesa el uso de la tecnología como herramienta de composición, la psicoacústica y percepción auditiva, y la lingüística.

Bolaños es profesor asistente de composición musical en Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Antes de llegar a Arizona, era profesor visitante en Bates College para el año 2018-2919, donde impartía cursos de teoría musical y tecnología musical.

Como becario Fulbright 2016-2017 en Nicaragua, fue compositor en residencia y director invitado de la Orquesta del conservatorio de la UPOLI. Es cofundador y director artístico del Proyecto Eco, y también ha colaborado con varias academias y universidades en Nicaragua para organizar intercambios artísticos y culturales entre músicos estadounidenses y nicaragüenses. Bolaños también ha escrito música para cine, teatro y danza.