Octavio Vázquez


Octavio Vázquez Rodríguez is a Galician-American New York based composer of classical music.

Biography

Born in Santiago de Compostela, Vazquez spontaneously started writing music at age 7. Not knowing how to notate music at that age, he created his own system. At age 12 he became music director at St. Peter's church in Lugo. In 1989 he moved to Madrid, where he studied at the Adolfo Salazar Conservatory and the Madrid Royal Conservatory, taking degrees in piano, collaborative piano, and theory. While in Madrid he also worked as assistant conductor to Oscar Gershensohn and pursued graduate studies in conducting and musicology. After winning the prestigious Scholarship, he went on to study composition at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and afterwards obtained his doctorate from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was on a full Fellowship. Since 1999 he resides in New York City.
He is primarily interested in the "...emotional impact and direct communication with the listener" . His music has been described as "...a burning torch for the next century" by Mark Greenfest, of the , and noted for its neo-romantic qualities, as well as its tonal, polytonal and atonal instances. Well known for his contrapuntal technique and use of classical and romantic forms, his doctoral dissertation piece "Hermes" exemplifies the post-modern attributes of his music, amalgamating formal structures of prelude and fugue, theme and variations, and sonata form, while thematically all the material is derived from a 5-note chord, first presented as Ab-C-D#-E-G. Another significant aspect of Vazquez’s music is its reflection of his Galician identity. A notable example is "Widows of the Living and of the Dead", a concerto for gaita and orchestra. Commissioned by Cristina Pato with support from New Music USA, the piece is "an ode to Galicia’s history of women upholding Galician society" following the massive emigration suffered during most of the 19th and 20th centuries, and "dedicated to all women throughout history".
Collaborations include musicians such as Rossen Milanov, Eric Jacobsen, Víctor Pablo Pérez, Dmitri Berlinsky, Ilya and Leonid Finkelshteyn, Johnny Gandelsman, Daniel Gaisford, Eldar Nebolsin, Gintaras Janusevicius, the Flatiron Trio, the , the Verdehr Trio, the Poulenc Trio, Viacheslav Dinerchtein, Julian Gargiulo, and Grammy Award winner Cristina Pato, and artists such as Olivia Kim, Luis Alvarez Roure, and photographer Katya Chilingiri.
Dr. Vazquez teaches at Nazareth College , where he directs the Composition Program.

List of works

Orchestral

Memento , winner of the Andres Gaos International Competition, premiered by the

Lethe, based on the "Guernica" Piano Trio, premiered by Carlos Kalmar and the Galicia Symphony Orchestra

Hermes, commissioned and premiered by the and conductor

Styx, commissioned and premiered by the Galicia Symphony Orchestra and conductor Hansjörg Schellenberger

Piano Concerto, commissioned and premiered by the Galicia Symphony Orchestra, with soloist Cristina Pato

Eleusis, commissioned by and and premiered by the RTVE Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Leaper

Tropos, Violin Concerto, commissioned by the and premiered by the , with soloist

Ewiges blaues Licht, commissioned and premiered by the Galicia Symphony Orchestra and conductor

Ewiges Licht II, a major revision of the former, commissioned and premiered by the and conductor Paul Daniel

Penelope, for choir and orchestra, commissioned by the Galician Cultural Council and premiered by Solo Voces, Collegium Compostellanum, and the conducted by

Elas, for Galician gaita and orchestra, commissioned by Cristina Pato and New Music USA and premiered by Cristina Pato and the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra conducted by

Widows of the Living and of the Dead, for Galician gaita and orchestra, commissioned by Cristina Pato and New Music USA and premiered by Cristina Pato and the conducted by Paul Daniel

Gaude, for choir and baroque orchestra, commissioned by &

Chamber

Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1

Sonata for Viola and Piano No. 1

Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2

Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano

Suite for Bassoon and Piano

Septet

String Quartet No. 3, premiered at Merkin Hall

Sonata for Viola and Piano No. 2, diploma at the Prokofiev International Competition, premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2003

Galician Folk Dances, for violin and piano, commissioned by the COAHSI

Trio for Flute, Viola and Cello, premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2003

Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano, 'Guernica' commissioned by the Guernica Project Inc. and premiered by the Flatiron Trio

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, commissioned and premiered by Enrique Pérez Piquer and the Via Stellae Festival 2010

MusicScapes, commissioned by

Balkanika, commissioned with support from the Secretary of Culture of Spain

NGC 6611, Honorable Mention in Hilary Hahn's "In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores' Contest"

Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano, commissioned and premiered by the Poulenc Trio with support from

Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano, commissioned and premiered by the Verdehr Trio and Michigan State University

Three Departures for alto sax and piano, commissioned by the New York chapter of the Music Teachers National Association

Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano

Pentagrammon for wind quintet, commissioned and premiered by the with support from Nazareth College

Winterzug for horn, tuba and piano, commissioned and premiered by the

What A Circus for horn, tuba and piano, commissioned by the with support from the Meir Rimon Commissioning Assistance Program of the International Horn Society.

Alchemical Birds for reed quintet, commissioned by the I-Park Foundation 2018 Composers + Musicians Collaborative Residency for the .

Solo

Sonatina for Piano

Prelude and Fugue for Guitar

Nineteen Preludes for Piano

Galician Folk Dances for piano

Variations on a Theme by Mozart for violin

Nostos for Guitar, commissioned by and the Fulbright Commission

Percée for Violin, commissioned by

Double I for Violin, commissioned by

Three Galician Pieces for piano, first prize in the

Vocal

Three Cantigas, to poems by Airas Nunes, Garcia de Andrade, Eanes de Cotom

Semente for Mixed Choir, poem by Emilio Pita

But a Breath for Mixed Choir, first prize in the

Tempestad, Amanece, for voice and piano trio, poems by Ilia Galán

Lieder to Poems by Goethe, for bass, bass clarinet and piano

Lieder to Poems by Rosalía de Castro, for voice and piano

Penelope, for choir and orchestra, commissioned by the Galician Cultural Council and premiered by Solo Voces, Collegium Compostellanum, and the conducted by

Two Songs to Poems by Neira Vilas, for voice and piano

Gaude, for choir and baroque orchestra, commissioned by &

Recordings