Later, at age 9 or 10, I remember my sister played me a record with music by the Colombian composer Blas Emilio Atehortúa (b. 1943). Listening to a type of Colombian music that was not the traditional pasillos and bambucos I was so used to was a revelation to me— I understood for the first time that classical music could also be composed by Colombians. It was after this experience that I first realized I wanted to compose music. Even though performing music was rewarding, I also wanted to write it— to invent it. I think that when you compose you have the power to imagine and create a new world, an unknown living organism with all its details and intricacies, that other people can experience when they listen to a performance of the music.
My music has always been influenced by all these events. As I have sought my voice, I have continuously synthesized classical music, Colombian music, jazz, and my favorite composers. Besides composing regularly since about 1990, I also have taught music theory and composition in Colombia and the United States. I had the honor to belong to the first generation of composers graduating from Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, where I studied composition with Guillermo Gaviria and piano with Radostina Petkova. Later, I continued my graduate studies in the United States: my masters degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Joel Hoffman; and my doctoral degree at Cornell University with Steven Stucky and Roberto Sierra. Currently, I teach composition and theory at the UNLV School of Music. Recording of Red Rock for Orchestra: Moravian Philharmonic, Petr Vronsky, conductor Recording of Música Muisca for Chamber Orchestra: Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor Recording of Espíritu de Pájaro for Orchestra: Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, Juan Felipe Molano, conductor