Born: 1974, Mexico City, Mexico

“My idea [in Ínguesu] is to show that one can choose any nonsense as the theme and the piece will be interesting as long as you are committed to quality.”

A guitarist as well as a composer, Enrico Chapela has studied music at institutions in Mexico City and Paris. His music mixes traditional influences from different eras and cultures with advanced contemporary techniques from classical and vernacular genres. His raucous orchestral tone poem Ínguesu, for example, depicts the course of a soccer match, and the suite Lo nato es neta refers to astrological constellations in rock terms. He has had works commissioned and performed by groups ranging from the Cuarteto Latinoamericano to the Dresdener Sinfoniker; his chamber orchestra piece Li Po was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and given its world premiere in 2009 by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the orchestra’s New Music Group.

Further listening:
Ínguesu (2003)
Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas
Alondra de la Parra, conductor
(Sony Masterworks)