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Cardona, Alejandro (b. 1959, San José). Costa Rican composer of mostly orchestral, chamber and piano works that have been performed throughout the Americas and in Europe; he is also active as a filmmaker and guitarist.
Prof. Cardona studied composition privately with Jorge Luis González Fernández in 1975-76 and with Curt Cacioppo, Leon Kirchner and Ivan Tcherepnin at Harvard University from 1977-81. He also earned a Master's degree in image synthesis and computer animation from Portsmouth University and the Utrecht School of the Arts in 1999.
He has received many honors. In the USA, he earned two BMI awards to Student Composers (1975-76), the composition prize of the Brookline Library Music Association (1978) and the Hugh F. MacColl Prize for Composition at Harvard University (1979). In Costa Rica, his honors include the awards for best original music and best experimental video at the Muestra Costarricense de Cine, Video y Multimedia (1999, for Testimonios). He has also earned the national music prize Aquileo Echeverría three times (1999, for Códices [Son Mestizo III]; 2000, for Bajo sombras; 2002, for En el eco de las paredes).
Abroad he has earned First Prize in the Confluencia de la Guitarra of the Ministère de la Culture in Martinique (1984, for Guerrilleros) and a special mention in the Isla de la Gomera competition in the Canary Islands (1999, for RinoSONoronte [Homenaje a Benny Moré]). His music has been performed in Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Germany, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, the USA, and Venezuela.
Prof. Cardona is also active as a researcher, most notably on Caribbean and Meso-American music, which he studied extensively in Mexico. He also co-wrote the sight-reading book ¿Dónde está la Má Teodora? (1997, second edition, 2000, Editorial Nuestra Cultura). In addition, he has toured as a popular musician, including as a guitarist in the blues band Calacas Blues, and his films have been seen at many major festivals in the Americas and Europe.
He has taught as a full professor at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica since 1986 and has directed its Cultural Identity, Art as Technology program since 1996.
In addition to the works listed below, Prof. Cardona has created the interactive CD-ROMs La producción coreográfica en Costa Rica: los años 90 (1999-2000), Dramaturgia del bailarín/Cazador de Mariposas (2002) and Codex ICAT (2002).
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail address: acardona@una.ac.cr
Street address: Prof. Alejandro Cardona, Apto. 1513-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica
Telephone: 506 260 2344
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
ORCHESTRAL: Pindos y athos, 1980; Arena americana (Son Mestizo), 1982-83, revised 1992; Son Mestizo II, 1984-85; Son de los condenados, small orchestra, 1986-87; RinoSONoronte (Homenaje a Benny Moré), piano, string orchestra, 1989-92 (also version for piano, string quartet, double bass); La Delgadina (variations), piano, orchestra, 1991-92, revised 2001 (also version for clarinet, viola, piano); Códices (Son Mestizo III), string quartet, orchestra, 1995-96
CHAMBER MUSIC: Guerrilleros (tomos I-II), guitar, 1981-82; Son del encachimbao, 2 amplified guitars, 1985; Las siete vidas del gato Mandingo, 6 percussion, 1987-88; Los soliloquios del gato Mandingo, guitar, 1989; Bajo sombras (string quartet no. 1), 1989-90; RinoSONoronte (Homenaje a Benny Moré), piano, string quartet, double bass, 1989-92 (version of orchestral work); La Delgadina (variations), clarinet, viola, piano, 1991-92, revised 2002 (version of orchestral work); Cuarteto No. 2, string quartet, 1992-93; Rikkita Kongo Yeri Kongo, bass clarinet, percussion, 1993 (also version for cello, percussion, 2002); Zachic 1, violin, piano, 1994; Zachic 2, flute (+ piccolo), oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 1994; Moyugba Orisha, cello, 1997-98; En el eco de las paredes (string quartet no. 3), 1999-2001; Cabalgando vientos, 4 guitars, string quartet, 2002-03
PIANO: Milonga, 1980; Xikiyeua in Xochitl, 1983-89; El silencio que hay en todas las soledades, 1996-97; El rayo dormido, 2001-02; La Paulina (fantasía), 2003
ELECTROACOUSTIC: Lamento, CD, 1997 (later incorporated into Testimonios); Esperanza, CD, 1998 (later incorporated into Testimonios); Celebración, CD, 1998 (later incorporated into Testimonios); América Angostura (gentes y paisajes imaginarios) (interactive sound installation), 1999; Texturas, una ventana a Centroamérica (interactive sound installation), 1999
FILMS: Testimonios, 1998-99 (incorporates Lamento; Esperanza; Celebración); Tránsitos y veredas, 2000; Tejidos Rebeldes, 2003
(Last updated on May 6, 2003)
