Juan Carlos Núñez

Juan Carlos Núñez

Works for Cello

Poulet Concerto (1985), for cello and orchestra, not edited.

Yocasta (1985), for cello and piano, not edited.

Sources:

Grove Music Online: https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.46796

Furman Schleifer, M., and Galván, G (2016). Latin American Classical Composers, A Biographical Dictionary. London: Rowman & Littlefield.

Juan Carlos Núñez

Venezuelan composer, pianist, and conductor, born September 19, 1947.

Venezuelan composer and conductor Juan Carlos Núñez was born in Caracas on September 19, 1947. At age 6, Núñez began his studies receiving piano lessons from Sergio Moreira. At age 11, he went on to study under Vicente Emilio Sojo, Evencio Castellanos, Inocente Carreño, Moisés Moleiro, and Francisco Rodrigo at the Escuela Superior de Música José Angel Lamas in Caracas. Núñez won the National Composition Prize in 1972 with his Toccata sinfónica. Abandoning formal compositional studies, he then studied conducting from 1973-76 in Warsaw’s State Higher School of Music under Stanislaw Wislocki. 

After returning to Caracas, Núñez conducted several of Venezuela’s known orchestras, such as the Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas, Orquesta Filarmónica de Caracas, Orquesta Filarmónica Nacional, and the National Youth Orchestra Juan José Landaeta. He founded the Cátedra Latinoamericana de Composición Antonio Estévez to promote and aid young composers. In 1994, Núñez started his work as a professor of composition for the Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales. 

As one of the first in his generation, Núñez’s compositions as a classical composer promoted improvisation and popular music. His exploration of contemporary techniques and heavy emphasis on collaboration with popular singers and ensembles was extremely influential and forward-thinking. Along with winning several national prizes, Núñez’s works also display his forward-thinking compositional approach.