José Evangelista

José Evangelista, composer, teacher (b at Valencia, Spain 5 August 1943). Obtaining degrees in composition, physics, and computer science in Spain, he came to Montréal to do advanced studies in musical composition at the Université de Montréal and MCGILL UNIVERSITY, which awarded him a doctorate in 1984. In 1974 he won the Confederación española de cajas de ahorros for his works for soprano and chamber ensemble En guise de fête. Vision won a special prize from Spain's Ministry of Culture in 1982. Evangelista began teaching at the University of Montreal, becoming a professor in 1979. He was composer-in-residence (1986) at the Akademi Musik Indonesia in Yogyakarta and at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt. Since 1987 he has been director of the Balinese Gamelan at the Université de Montréal. One of his most frequently performed works using his own approach to heterophony is O Bali (1989) for chamber ensemble. From 1993 to 1995 he was composer-in-residence with the ORCHESTRE SYMPHONIQUE DE MONTRÉAL. More recently he has been exploring the use of melody in Southeast Asian classical music. Commissioned by many outstanding soloists and groups including the Kronos Quartet, Groupe vocale de France, and the CBC, Evangelista has had works such as Orchestre concertant (2000), and Alap et Gat (1998) published by Salabert Editions, Paris. His compositional approach is based on melody nourished through his own Spanish background, a love of medieval modal music, and Asian traditions. Two of his operas recently received premieres: Exercices de conversation (Lyon, 2000, libretto by E. Ionesco) and Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse (Montréal 2001, libretto by A. Nousse after J. Potocki).