On November 4^th, 2014-15 EtM Con Edison Composer-in-Residence Juan Pablo Contreras was named winner of the Arturo Márquez First Composition Contest for Chamber Orchestra with his Harp Concerto Ángel Mestizo. This is the first edition of this Mexican composition contest, which was created to acknowledge the significance of Arturo Márquez’s music, and to encourage young composers to incorporate popular and folk Mexican music in their compositions.

Composers under the age of 40 were invited to submit a 10-20 minute work for Chamber Orchestra under a pseudonym. The work had to be inspired by a Mexican folk dance such as the “son” or “corrido.” The winning prize consists of $5,000 plus the world premiere of the work, which will take place on December 4th in Mexico City with the Fall Arts Festival Orchestra.

Contreras has been working on the Piano reduction of the Harp Concerto during his EtM Residency at the Turtle Bay Music School. Ángel Mestizo, a concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, is an imaginary journey of the harp’s migration to Mexico during the Spanish conquest and its evolution to become one of the most iconic instruments in the country.

Juan Pablo talks about how his music addresses issues of Mexican identity in this installment of his EtM Composer Spotlight interview filmed in October at Turtle Bay Music School.

You can watch the complete interview  on our YouTube channel.