Jimmy López

Jimmy López (born 21 October 1978) is a classical music composer from Lima, Peru and is considered "one of the most interesting young composers anywhere today" He has won several international awards and pieces composed by him have been performed by leading orchestras around the world such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Peru, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. His works have been performed in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Gewandhaus Leipzig, and during the 2010 Youth Olympic games in Singapore. His music has been featured in numerous festivals, including Tanglewood Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Grant Park Music Festival, Darmstadt International Course for New Music, and Donaueschingen Music Festival.

In 1998, López began studying at the National Conservatory of Music in Lima, where he worked with the Peruvian composer Enrique Iturriaga. In 2000 he moved to Helsinki to study at the Sibelius Academy with Veli-Matti Puumala and Eero Hämeenniemi. After being awarded a Master of Music degree, he was admitted to University of California, Berkeley from where he obtained his PhD in Composition in 2012. He has participated in masterclasses with Magnus Lindberg, Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Nyman, Jouni Kaipainen, Jonathan Harvey, Betsy Jolas and Marek Kopelent, among others.

In 2004, a ballet, "Los Magos del Silencio" ("The Magicians of Silence") was produced in Lima and López's "Concerto for Koto and Orchestra" was performed by the Dutch UMA Kamerorkest (Chamber orchestra). In 2005, a work for four recorder players and three percussion players, "Kraftmaschine", was commissioned by the German A*Devantgarde festival. In March 2007, López presented several works, "A Wedding Blast", "Varem", "Epiphany" and "América Salvaje" ("Wild America") at a concert held in Helsinki's Temppeliaukion kirkko. The compositions included use of traditional Peruvian instruments such as the pututo and the ocarina and inspired by Peruvian culture. "América Salvaje" was commissioned by the Ministry of Education on the occasion of the opening of the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú (National Library of Peru) in 2006.

2013 saw the premier of four works by Mr. López: "Lord of the Air", cello concerto, performed by Jesús Castro-Balbi and the TCU Symphony conducted by Germán Gutiérrez; "Ccantu", for piano, performed by Priscila Navarro at her debut recital in Carnegie Hall; "Perú Negro", dedicated to Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Centennial Season of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra; and "Warped Symmetry" by flutist Sami Junnonen during the Hanko Music Festival in Finland. His work "Synesthésie" was recorded by Pierre-André Valade and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in November 2012 for the radio program Alla Breve.

On August 14, 2015 an album dedicated entirely to his orchestral works was releasedunder the Harmonia Mundi record label. The pieces included are “Perú Negro”, “Lord of the Air”, “Synesthésie” and “América Salvaje”, all of them performed by Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK).

His opera Bel Canto is scheduled to have its world premiere at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on December 7, 2015. Jimmy López is published by Filarmonika

The date is the date of composition rather than publication or first performance.

Orchestral or Ensemble

• Perú Negro, for orchestra (2012)
• Synesthésie, for orchestra (2011)
• Avec Swing, for chamber ensemble (2010)
• Fiesta! for orchestra (2008)
• Fiesta! for chamber orchestra (2007)
• América Salvaje, symphonic poem (2006)
• A Wedding Blast, for orchestra (2005)
• Los Magos del Silencio, ballet for children (2004)
• Carnynx, for orchestra (2002)
• Aires de Marinera, for big band (2002)

Solo Instrument and Orchestra or Ensemble

• Lord of the Air, concerto for cello and orchestra (2012)
• Lago de Lágrimas, concerto for flute and orchestra (2009/2010)
• Epiphany, concertino for piano, brass, strings and percussion (2007)
• Varem, concerto for koto and orchestra (2004)
• Arco de Luz, for tenor saxophone and wind ensemble (1999)

Chamber Works

• Man and Man, for countertenor and ensemble (2015)
• Viaje a ti, for soprano and piano (2010)
• Warped Symmetry, for solo flute (2011)
• Ccantu, for solo piano (2011)
• 15 Études for String Octet (2010)
• Of Bells and Broken Shadows, for cello and piano (2009)
• Särmä, for accordion and piano (2009)
• Incubus III, for clarinet, percussion and live electronics (2009)
• Incubus II, for alto sax, baritone sax, pno and perc (2008)
• Incubus, for alto saxophone, accordion and double bass (2008)
• Kraftmaschine, for 4 recorders 3 percussions (2005)
• Lesbia, for soprano, alto, piano and 5-string double bass (2005)
• La Caresse du Couteau, for string quartet (2004)
• K'asa, for violin and piano (2003)
• Speculorum, for oboe and koto (2002)
• Vortex, for piano solo (2001)
• El Viaje, for clarinet, cello and piano (2000)
• Trio, for 2 clarinets and bassoon (1999)
• Three Lieder, for tenor and piano (1998)

• 2001 Boston University Alea III International Composition Prize (USA)
• 2002 CCA International Composition Competition Orchestra Prize (Taiwan)
• 2005 Honourable Mention, Irino Prize for Chamber Music (Japan)
• 2006 Stipendienpreis for Composition (Germany)
• 2006 SävellYS Composition Prize (Finland)
• 2008 2nd Prize - Nicola de Lorenzo Prize (UC Berkeley)
• 2008 Morton Gould Young Composer Award (given by ASCAP: The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)
• 2008 Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the Darmstadt International Course for Contemporary Music, Germany.
• 2009 Georges Ladd Prix de Paris (UC Berkeley)
• 2011 1st Prize - Nicola de Lorenzo Music Composition Contest (UC Berkeley)
• 2012 1st Prize - Nicola de Lorenzo Music Composition Contest (UC Berkeley)
• 2013 Prince Prize - Awarded to Lyric Opera of Chicago and the composer by the Prince Charitable Trusts
• 2014 Premio Antara - Lima Contemporary Music Festival
• 2015 Special Mention - Casa de las Américas Composition Prize

• "The ALEA III International Composition Prize 2003". Alea III. 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
• "Result of the 26th IRINO PRIZE for chamber Music, 2005". The Irino Prize Foundation. 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-12. 
• "The ASCAP Foundation Names Recipients of the 2008 Morton Gould Young Composer Awards". ASCAP. 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-12. 
• "Kranichsteiner Musikpreis für Jimmy Lopez, Marco Momi und Simon Stehen-Andersen". klassik.com. Retrieved 2015-08-12. 
• "Prizes and Honors / Nicola de Lorenzo Prize in Music Composition". UC Berkeley Financial Aid & Scholarships. 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-12. 
• "Bel Canto Snags 2013 Prince Prize for Lyric and Composer Jimmy Lopez". Clef Notes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts. 2013. Retrieved 2015-07-18. 
• "An Unexpected Honor". voiceleading. 2014. Retrieved 2015-07-18. 
• "Jimmy López, ex alumno gana mención". Conservatorio Nacional de Música. 2014. Retrieved 2015-07-18.