Miguel del Aguila
www.migueldelaguila.com
Twice Grammy nominated composer Miguel del Aguila’s prolific music output and distinctive musical style has placed him among the most highly regarded composers of his generation. He came to the attention of European audiences in 1983 when his Messages premiered at Musikvereinsaal, the home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Soon performances at Konzerthaus and Bösendorfer Hall followed, marking the beginning of an international career that spans over two decades.
In 1987 Peermusic (Theodore Presser distr.) published his first works eventually incorporating most of Aguila’s works to their catalogue. American audiences embraced Aguila’s music in 1988 as he introduced his piano works at New York’s Carnegie Recital Hall; and days later, Lukas Foss premiered his Hexen with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra. KKM-Austria and Albany Records NY took notice and offered him to record five of his works in 1989 releasing his two first CD’s the following year.
During the 1990’s Aguila’s list of works grew as did the number of his recordings, performances and honors which by 1995 included the prestigious Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. Performances at NY’s Lincoln Center, London’s Royal Opera House, and in Moscow, Vienna, , Zurich, Budapest, Prague, Tokyo, Rome and other major capitals begun a decade of expansion and growth. After residing in Vienna for ten years, Aguila returned to the US in 1992 making California his home. Before long Los Angeles Times critics welcomed him as "One of the West Coast's most promising and enterprising young composers." During this time he founded and directed the young musicians group Voices (which provided free instruction, concerts and premieres), and became music director of Ojai Camerata (1996-1999).
In 2001 New York’s Chautauqua Institution Summer Festival invited him as Resident Composer where he remained until 2004 contributing with new works, performances and literary articles. In 2005 Aguila accepted a two year Composer in Residence position with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, through a MTC-Music Alive Award. This marked the start of an intensively creative period that culminated with the fully staged premiere of his opera Time and Again Barelas, commemorating Albuquerque’s tricentennial.
By 2008 first rate orchestras, ensembles and soloists were regularly commissioning and performing his works worldwide. They included almost fifty orchestras, over two hundred chamber ensembles and soloists; and virtually every country in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Currently Aguila’s catalogue reaches over a hundred works for all genres. His music is widely available on twenty CD’s released by Bridge, Dorian, Telarc, New Albion, Albany, Centaur and Sony-Austria, among others.
Recently, Aguila was honored by the Recording Academy with two Grammy nominations for his CD Salon Buenos Aires, with the Lancaster Symphony Composer of the Year Award 2009, the Peter S. Reed Foundation Award 2008, MTC Magnum Opus/Kathryn Gould Award 2008, as well as awards by The Copland Foundation, and the Argosy Foundation for Contemporary Music
