(b. 7 October 1951, Cerro de Pasco).
Peruvian composer, now resident in Mexico, of mostly stage, chamber, choral, and vocal works that have been performed in the Americas; he is also active as a musicologist.
Mr. Tello studied choral conducting with Guillermo Cárdenas, Manuel Cuadros Barr and Marco Dusi, composition with Celso Garrido-Lecca, Enrique Iturriaga and Édgar Valcárcel, musicology with César Bolaños and Fernando García, and piano with Luisa Negri at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Lima from 1968–77. There he earned the titles Profesor de Educación Musical in 1973 and Director de Coros in 1981 and attended a course with Mario Lavista in 1985. He later attended a seminar with Heber Vázquez at CENIDIM of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City in 1999.
Among his honours are an honourable mention in the Concurso de Obras Polifónicas in Ibagué, Colombia (1982, for Trifábula), Primer Premio in the choral competition of the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú (1987, for Poema 9), the Premio de Investigación from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (1994), the Premio de Musicología Casa de las Américas in Cuba (1999, for Cancionero Musical de Gaspar Fernandes), the Premio al Desempeño Académico en Investigación from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (1999), an honourable mention in the Robert Stevenson Prize for musicology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C. (2001), and the Premio de Excelencia Académica from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (2001).
As a musicologist, he has published research on the ancient music of the region Oaxaca, which he has researched at CENIDIM since 1982. His books on the subject include volumes 3, 4, 7, 8, and 10 of the Tesoro de la Música Polifónica en México (1983–2001, CENIDIM), as well as El Archivo Musical de la Catedral de Oaxaca (1990, CENIDIM) and Cancionero Musical de Gaspar Fernandes (2001, CENIDIM). His other books include 50 Años de música en el Palacio de Bellas Artes (1985, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes), Salvador Contreras – Vida y obra (1987, CENIDIM) and Música barroca del Perú, Siglos XVII–XVIII (1998, AFI Integra). He also wrote articles for México en la Cultura, a supplement of the journal Siempre, from 1988–91 and for the publication Tiempo Libre from 1993–99. He has served on the board of editors of the journal Heterofonía since 1999. In addition, he contributed more than 100 articles to the Diccionario de la Música Española e Hispanoamericana (2000, SGAE).
He is also active in other positions. He co-founded the Taller de la Canción Popular at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Lima in 1974 and the Taller de Investigaciones Musicales there in 1975. He also founded the folk chorus Tuna Universitaria Nueva Amistad in 1973, which he conducted from 1973–81, and the Coro de Electroperú in 1975, which he conducted from 1975–80. He conducted the Coro de la Universidad Nacional Agraria in Lima from 1975–79, the Coro de la Escuela Nacional de Música from 1977–81, the Agrupación Coral Contrapunto in 1980–81, and the Coro de la Universidad Técnica del Callao in 1980–81. He has served as the guest conductor of the Coro de Madrigalistas de Bellas Artes de México since 1986 and as principal conductor of the chorus for early music Capilla Virreinal de la Nueva España since 1989, which he founded in 1989. In addition, he founded the chorus Cantorum, Camerata Vocale in 2000 and has served as its conductor since 2000.
He taught as Profesor de Materias Teóricas at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Lima from 1976–78 and taught analysis, choral conducting, counterpoint, and music history there as chair of the department of choral conducting from 1978–82. He has taught music at the Centro Universitario de Teatro of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City since 1993 and gave courses and lectures at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City in 1998–99.
He has lived in Mexico since 1982.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
La Casita bonita (musical comedy, after Leo Tolstoy), soloists, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, string orchestra, 1977
El Rey pomposo (musical comedy, text by Sara Joffré), mixed chorus, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 2 trumpets, percussion, 1978
Asedio y liberación del ciego y la parturienta (incidental music, play by José B. Adolph), fixed media, 1979
Constante (incidental music, play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca), flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, 1990
Ciudad tan bella como cualquiera (musical spectacle, scenario by Adalberto Téllez Gutiérrez, texts by Nezahualcóyotl, Fernando de Alva, Susana Francis, José Antonio Bernal, Alfonso Sánchez Arteche, Juana Inés de la Cruz, Juan B. Garza), voice, piano, 1996
Romero solo (music for the spectacle Laberinto by León Felipe), 2 actors–speakers, violin, cello, 1996
Avalancha (incidental music, play by María Cristina Ribal), fixed media, 1996
ORCHESTRAL:
Tres Piezas para cuerdas, string orchestra, 1972 (version of work for string quartet)
Dansaq III, string orchestra, 1986
Otro elogio de Falami, string orchestra, 1991
Concierto para arpa y orquesta de cuerdas, harp, string orchestra, 2002
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Tres Piezas para cuerdas, string quartet, 1972 (also version for string orchestra)
Sicalipsis I, flute, 1972
Música para violín, violin, 1973
Movimiento ingenuo en forma de sonata, clarinet, piano, 1974
Meditaciones II, string quartet (with conductor), 1974
Sicalipsis II, flute, 1975
Dansaq I – Homenaje a Manuel Enríquez, violin, 1984
Dansaq II, string quartet, 1985
Sonqoy, flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 1987 (also version for flute, alto flute, bass flute, violin, cello, piano, 1987)
Jaray Arawi, flute, alto flute, bass flute, string quartet, 1988
Elogio de Falami, clarinet, bassoon, piano, 1991
Las Premoniciones de Añada, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, 1993
Ichuq Parwanta, piano, marimba, 1998 (version of vocal work)
Ronda de muquis, harp, string quartet, 2001
CHORAL:
Epitafio para un guerrillero (text by Jesús López Pacheco), bass, mixed speaking chorus, 4 percussion, 1974
Nekros (text by Nicomedes Santa Cruz), mixed speaking chorus, 1976
Trifábula (text by Arturo Corcuera), mixed chorus, 1982
Poema 9 (text by José Eduardo Eielson), mixed chorus, 1987
Drik Begí y todas las rondas para volar por encima del universo (text by César Toro Montalvo), mixed chorus, 1988
Pieza en forma de porra, mixed speaking chorus, 2002
VOCAL:
Poema y oración de amor (texts by Carlos Germán Belli, Juan Gelman), mezzo-soprano, 2 percussion, 1974
Ichuq Parwanta (text from a huayno source [popular music from Peru]), 2 sopranos, flute, 1980 (also versions for mezzo-soprano, flute, piano, 1989; piano, marimba)
Algunos poemas de Bríndisi (text by Fernando Ruiz Granados), mezzo-soprano, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 1994 (also version for soprano, orchestra, 2003)
Lugares paganos (text by José Luis Rivas), soprano, baritone, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 1997
Canción de cuna para despertar a un negrito (text by Nicolás Guillén), mezzo-soprano, piano, 2000
Lunas, soprano, mezzo-soprano, piano, 2002
PIANO:
Toro torollay (Variaciones sobre un tema de la corrida de toros de Ayacucho), 1973
Meditaciones I, 2 pianos, 1974
ARRANGEMENT:
Acuarelas infantiles (Carlos Sánchez Málaga), orchestra, 1978
DISCOGRAPHY (as composer)
Dansaq II. Cuarteto Latinoamericano (Fondo INBA–SACM, 1990) (LP)
Dansaq I – Homenaje a Manuel Enríquez. Manuel Enríquez, violin (Fondo INBA–SACM: CD PCD 10121, 1992)
Dansaq II. Cuarteto Latinoamericano (New Albion Records: NA 051, 1992)
Canción de cuna para despertar a un negrito. María Encarnación Vázquez, mezzo-soprano; James Demster, piano (CONACULTA–FONCA–Euram Records: CDEURE 092, 2000)
DISCOGRAPHY (as conductor)
Antología de la música peruana siglo XX: Vocal–Coral. Coro de la Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Lima (Fundación Edubanco, 1979) (LP)
Manuel de Sumaya. Capilla Virreinal de la Nueva España (Fondo INBA–SACM, 1990) (LP)
300 Años de música colonial mexicana. Capilla Virreinal de la Nueva España (Fondo INBA–SACM, 1993)
Antología del Barroco Musical Peruano. Capilla Virreinal de la Nueva España (UPC: UPC001, 1998)