Composer

In the words of musicologist, Yolanda Moreno Rivas, “ Javier Alvarez (Mexico City, 1956) is probably the most interesting Mexican musician born in the 1950’s. An alert musical intelligence, sustained by the command of a plurality of techniques and an eclectic perspective has yielded a vigorous and multifaceted oeuvre with a highly original evolution. “

Composer of a large body of work, which encompasses music for the concert hall, the cinema and electroacoustics, Javier Alvarez began composition studies with Mario Lavista at the National Conservatory of Music, obtaining a Masters Degree at the University of Wisconsin with John Downey.

In 1980, he continued his studies at the Royal College of Music, obtaining a Doctorate at the City University in London, in England, where he lived until 2005. In addition to a prolific creative career, which has won him ample international recognition, Alvarez boasts a 25-year long academic calling, having taught composition at the Royal College of Music and at the University of Hertfordshire.

During 1989 he headed Sonic Arts Network, the society for electroacoustic music in Britain and, in 1995, he held the Artistic Directorship of the Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM). In addition to a 3-year residency at the Music Academy in Malmö, in Sweden, Alvarez has been visiting professor at the Paris Conservatoire and at the City University in London, becoming involved in 2004, as a founding director of the Escuela Superior de Artes Musicales de Yucatán educational project.

In 2000 he was awarded the Mozart Medal and subsequently distinguished by the Sistema Nacional de Creadores (FONCA).

Since 2005, Javier Alvarez is a Member of the Mexican Academy of Arts and, in 2007, he was appointed Dean of the Conservatorio de las Rosas, position he held until 2011.

In 2013, Alvarez was awarded the National Prize for the Arts and Sciences, the highest distinction granted by the Mexican State.

Currently

He lives in Mérida, in the Yucatán peninsula, where he is active as an independent composer.

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