José Evangelista (5 August 1943 – 10 January 2023) was a Spanish composer and music educator who was based in Montreal, Canada. He was professor of composition at the Université de Montréal from 1979 to 2009. A member of the Canadian League of Composers, the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre, Evangelista was known for his commitment to contemporary classical music and non-Western music.
Life and career Born in Valencia on 5 August 1943, Evangelista began his professional training at the University of Valencia where he studied computer science for seven years and earned a degree in that subject in 1967. At the same time he pursued music courses at the Valencia Conservatory and earned a premier prix in music composition there in 1967. His most influential teacher at that school was Vicente Asencio who taught harmony, composition, and orchestration.
In 1969 Evangelista moved to Canada and settled in the city of Montreal. From 1970 to 1973 he was a pupil of André Prévost at the Université de Montréal where he earned a Master of Music in composition. In 1974, he attended the Darmstädter Ferienkurse for contemporary music, and returned in 1984 when he was named a composer-in-residence. In the autumn of 1974 he entered the graduate music program at McGill University to study composition with Bruce Mather; he earned a Doctor of Music in 1984. From 1979 he taught on the music faculty of the Université de Montréal; among his students were composers Simon Bertrand, Analia Llugdar, Samy Moussa and Ana Sokolovic. He installed a workshop of Balinese Gamelan music at the university. He held the teaching position until 2009.
Evangelista was active in Canada with the Traditions musicales du monde, a concert society dedicated to promoting non-Western music which he helped found. He developed an interest in the music and culture of Southeast Asia, and a number of his compositions reflect that interest. To pursue studies in this music, he lived in Indonesia during the summers of 1976 and 1980 and in Burma during the summer of 1986 where he studied the Javanese gamelan and Burmese piano. He was made composer-in-residence at the Akademi Musik Indonesia in Yogyakarta in 1986. In 1993 and 1994, he was composer-in-residence with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Evangelista died on 10 January 2023, at age 79.
Awards In 1974 Evangelista was awarded first prize in the Confederación Espanola de Cajas de Ahorros Contest in Madrid for his En guise de fête. In 1978 he helped found Les Événements du neuf, a concert society dedicated to avant-garde music. In 1982 he was awarded a special prize from Spain's Ministry of Culture for his work Vision, and in 1988 he won first prize in the choral works competition of St Mary Magdalene's Church in Toronto for O quam suavis est. His Nuevas monodías españolas was nominated as classical composition of the year at the Juno Awards of 2005. In 2019, he received the Émile-Nelligan Foundation's Serge-Garant Prize for his life's work.
Works Evangelista's works include:
Sonatine for flute and piano, 1971 Un mur à peine for soprano and eight musicians, 1972 En guise de fête for soprano and chamber ensemble, 1974 Monsieur Plume, un homme paisible for soprano and cello, 1974 Arabesco for voice and cello, 1975 Coros tejiendo, voces alternando for 12 voices, 1975 Miroir fugace for string orchestra, 1975 Va-et-vient for soprano, flute, clarinet and electric organ, 1976 Consort for three voices, two harps and strings, 1977 Immobilis in mobili for three winds, three strings, two pianos and percussion, 1977 Carrousel for ondes Martenot and vibraphone, 1978 Vent d'est, ballet, 1979 Motionless Move für three winds four strings, harp, keyboard, percussion, two synthesizers and electric guitar, 1980 Pentagramme, ballet, 1980 Rainbow, ballet, 1981 Light and Shade for 11 musicians, 1981 Ay, luna for mixed choir, 1981 Brisé for guitar, 1982 Vision for mezzo-soprano, piano, harp, electric guitar, cello and vibraphone, 1982 Clos de vie for piano, harp, harpsichord, electric guitar, banjo, four strings and vibraphone, 1983 Kotekan for mixed choir, 1983 Rodolphe, ballet, 1983 Duo staccato for violin and piano, 1984 Rondo for lute ensemble, 1984 Éléphant dans le noir for small orchestra, 1985 Piano concertant for piano and orchestra, 1986 Dans la nuit for harp, synthesizer, vibraphone and marimbaphone, 1986 Merapi for two winds, three strings, harp and vibraphone, 1986 Nocturn i Albada for guitar, 1986 Dum esset rex for mixed choir, 1986 O quam suavis est for mixed choir, 1987 Ecos for organ, 1987 La Porte, monodrama for soprano and percussion, 1987 Monodas españolas for piano, 1988 Monody Quartet for chamber ensemble, 1989 O Bali for chamber ensemble, 1989 Alice & friends, 1990 Airs d'Espagne, 1992 Violinissimo, Concerto for violin & orchestra, 1992 Symphonie minute, 1994 Alap & gat, 1998 Exercices de conversation, opera, to a libretto by Eugène Ionesco, 2000 Cancionero, 2001 Concertino, 2001 Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse, opera, 2001 Concerto con brio for strings, 2004
References
External links
Les Événements du neuf thecanadianencyclopedia.ca Rodriguez, Adrian: José Evangelista – Composer in Constant Evolution (interview) myscena.org 10 October 2017 José Evangelista (biography) Centre de Documentation de la Musique Contemporaine