Juan Campoverde Q. is an Ecuadorian-American composer whose creative vision and work enriches the panorama of contemporary music by expanding our appreciation of the diversity of recent Latin American music and thought. Internationally recognized soloists such as Roberto Fabbriciani, Claire Chase and David Nuñez, as well as ensembles such as L’Ensemble Intercontemporain (France); Ensemble Aventure, EnsembleSurPlus, Ensemble Reflexion K (Germany); Ensemble Platypus (Austria); New Music Concerts Ensemble (Canada); NOISE Ensemble, Fonema Consort (US); UNTREF Quartet (Argentina), Duplum (Mexico), and Ensamble Quito 6 (Ecuador), have performed his music. His works were premiered twice at ISCM World Music Days, and have been performed by the National Symphonic Orchestra of Ecuador.
Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approaches to composition as well as recent Latin American music and cultural studies are Campoverde Q.’s areas of interest and research.
Juan Campoverde Q. es un compositor ecuatoriano-norteamericano cuya visión creativa y trabajo enriquecen el panorama de la música contemporánea al ampliar nuestra apreciación de la diversidad de la música y del pensamiento musical latinoamericanos recientes. Solistas de renombre internacional como Roberto Fabbriciani, Claire Chase y David Nuñez, y grupos como L’Ensemble Intercontemporain (Francia); Ensemble Aventure, EnsembleSurPlus, Ensemble Reflexion K (Alemania); Ensemble Platypus (Austria); New Music Concerts Ensemble (Canadá); NOISE Ensemble, Fonema Consort (USA); UNTREF Quartet (Argentina), Duplum (México), y Ensamble Quito 6 (Ecuador), han interpretado su música. Sus obras han sido estrenadas en el "ISCM World Music Days”, y han sido también interpretadas por la Orquesta Sinfónica del Ecuador.
Acercamientos interdisciplinarios y transculturales a la composición contemporánea, así como las músicas recientes y los estudios culturales de América Latina constituyen sus áreas de investigación y de experiencia docente.
Luminescence i, for Flute(s), Bass Clarinet, and Violin (2018) Platypus Ensemble
RECENT PROJECTS: estelas australes
The title of the piece is derived from pre-Columbian steles, small monoliths made of rock and found in burial places in different sites in what is now Ecuador. The carved figures of these pre-Columbian steles appear to represent connexions between earth and heaven and between the material and the spiritual dimensions. Steles with human characteristics appear to mark spaces of ritualistic importance linked with death: “Their pointed bases, wedged into the ground, ensured their position, and their material—stone—safeguarded their preservation to the present.”
In this work, a symbolic connection attempts to connect the spiritual legacy of these pre-Columbian cultures and the formation of our contemporary subjectivities. Far away from claiming historical interpretation or validation, the piece is a creative speculation on the shades cast by the millennial presence of these monoliths in a modern day time and landscape busy with the immediate and the ephemeral.
This project has been possible thanks to the support of the Goethe Institute and its “Virtual Partner Residence” program, with the Ensemble Reflexion K in Germany.
The use of the photographs has been kindly approved by the “Museo de Arte Precolombino Casa del Alabado” in Quito, Ecuador.
Estelas: Mundo de los ancestros / World of the Ancestors
Museo de Arte Precolombino Casa del Alabado.
Quito, Ecuador
PROYECTOS RECIENTES: estelas australes
El título de la pieza se deriva de las estelas precolombinas, pequeños monolitos hechos de roca y encontrados en cementerios en diferentes sitios de lo que hoy es Ecuador. Las figuras talladas de estas estelas precolombinas parecen representar conexiones entre la tierra y el cielo y entre las dimensiones material y espiritual. Las estelas con características humanas parecen marcar espacios de importancia ritual ligados a la muerte: “Sus bases puntiagudas, encajadas en el suelo, aseguraban su posición, y su material, la piedra, salvaguardaba su preservación hasta el presente”.
En este trabajo, una conexión simbólica intenta conectar el legado espiritual de estas culturas precolombinas y la formación de nuestras subjetividades contemporáneas. Lejos de reclamar una interpretación o validación histórica, la pieza es una especulación creativa sobre las sombras proyectadas por la presencia milenaria de estos monolitos en un tiempo y un paisaje moderno ocupado por lo inmediato y lo efímero.
Este proyecto ha sido posible gracias al apoyo del Instituto Goethe y su programa “Virtual Partner Residence,” con el Ensamble Reflexion K en Alemania.
El uso de las fotografías han sido gentilmente aprobado por el “Museo de Arte Precolombino Casa del Alabado” en Quito, Ecuador.
Solo Works
Lux (Flute, 2014)
crossings (2019), Percussion and Fixed Media; c.11’00" *
borderlines (2019), Percussion and Fixed Media; c. 11’00'“
claroscuros ii (2016), Violin and Electronics (Optional); c. 07’40"
Nocturno (2014), Violoncello; c. 10’30”
Lux (2014), Flute (2014), Solo flute; c. 8’
muna ii (2012), Amplified Guitar and Fixed Media; c. 8’30”
aires (2009-2010), Piano; c. 18’
claroscuros i (2009), Violin; c. 4’30”
Deep Blue / Estudio en Azul (2004), Amplified Guitar; c. 3'33
ánimas (2001), Flute; c. 8’
Topographies I (1996) Amplified guitar; c. 9’
* Scores and recordings available upon request
Small Ensemble
Quema, quemándome, quemado (Alto and/or Tenor Saxophon; 2014)
Background photograph: Quema, quemándome , quemado by Arnaldo Roche Rabell (1989)
emerging presences (2021), Guitar, Fixed Media and/or Ensemble; c. 15’
estelas australes (2021), Flute and Violoncello; c. 8’
El resplandor de la selva invisible (2020), String Quartet
Los rastros de Venus (2020), Violin and Piano; c. 13’
cantos ii (2020), Flute and Violoncello; c. 6’ *
umbrales ii (2019), Two Sopranos, Flute and Amplified Guitar; 7'
amores (2018), Cont’amores (2018), Contrabass and Percussion; c. 10'
luminiscence (2018), Flute, clarinet and violin; c. 4'
exótica (2017), Ensemble and Electronics; c. 15'
Los lugares del deseo (2017), Ensemble and voice; c. 9'
Quema, quemándome, quemado (2016), Alto Saxophone and/or Tenor Saxophone; c. 12'
huellas entre huellas (2015), Flute, Violoncello and Piano; c.10'
basalto (2014), Voice and / or Alto Flute and Fixed Media; c. 10'
Umbrales ii (2013), Two Sopranos, Flue, Amplified Guitar; c. 7'
cantos I (2012), String Quartet; c. 8'
Veils (sobre la fragilidad de las cosas) (2012-2014), Bass Clarinet, Percussion, and Fixed Media; c. 8'
ofrendas (2012), Ensemble; c. 9'
Party Pieces Project (2012), Ensemble; c. 5'
torus / N (2011), Violin, Violoncello, Percussion, Piano; c. 10'
Torsos (2010), Strings; c. 9'
Les autres personages avec longues oreilles (2009), Ensemble; c. 3'
Iluminaciones (2007), Oboe, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello; c. 5'30
L'infini Turbulent (2006), Piano, Violin, Violoncello; c. 9'
Topographies i (Concave Formations) (1996), Ensemble; c. 8'
About little angels…and little devils… (1993), Harpsichord and Amplified Guitar; c. 11'
Reflejos (1988), Strings, Harpsichord, Amplified Guitar; c. 5'
* Scores and recordings available upon request
Large Ensemble
Terra Firma (2018, Orquestra and Voice)
In memoriam (2018), Ensemble and Electronics; c. 13’30" *
terra firma (2016), Orchestra and Voice; 12'
Nostalgia por la luz (2015); String Orchestra;; c. 12’
Estudios en Negativo (2013), Orchestra and Fixed Media; c. 10'
El Capariche, Música Incidental (2012), Orchestra; c. 3'
música elemental (2008), Flute, Wind Ensemble and Fixed Media; c 10'
Altares (1999-2000), Ensemble; c. 13'
Crónicas (1993), Orchestra; c. 15'
Cánticos para la noche (1991), Orchestra; c. 10'
Tientos (1990), Orchestra; c. 8'
* Scores and recordings available upon request
Fixed Media / Electronic Music
Recorded and Processed Pre-Columbian Instruments (2007)
emerging presences (2021), Four Channel Computer-Generated Sounds; 8’
crossings (2020), Four Channel Computer-Generated Sounds; 11’
basalto (2014), Four Channel Computer-Generated Sounds; 13’30"
Spondylus (2012), Four Channel Computer-Generated Sounds and Video,
(in conjunction with MediaLab, Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador); 9'24
ánimas ii (2012), Eight Channel Computer-Generated Sounds 6'
Featured Work
Contact us / Contacto
jcampoverdeq@gmail.com
Background photograph: artwork for the cover of Vistas Furtivas; Marc Perlish
https://www.marcperlishphotography.com