Professional Bio
Horacio Fernández Vázquez is a classical composer by day and an urban music producer by night. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in musical composition at The Juilliard School of Music, class of ’24. He is a modern artist who mixes his music with the rich sounds of urban Latin-America, his home culture, and enlarges it with the formal experience that he has acquired through his years in academia. He is equally proficient in writing for solo instruments and large orchestras as he is at writing relatable lyrics for pop songs, creating swell beats for rappers and composing music for film.
His most recent commissions include music for the Albany Symphony, the little Orchestra Society, the New Juilliard Ensemble and Dogs of Desire. His music has been performed and recorded by leading artists and ensembles such as the Oregon Symphony, The Juilliard Orchestra, Zlatomir Fung, Tony Glausi, Mathew Whitaker among many others. He has won prestigious awards such as the Arturo Márquez Competition, the International Songwriting Competition, the James Galway Festival Composer Competition, The Juilliard Composer’s Competition. He has also been a recipient of fellowships and grants that have allowed him to fund his entrepreneurial pursuits such as Mexico’s Culture Secretariat, National Sawdust’s Blueprint Fellowship, and Juilliard’s entrepreneurship organization known as the Marks Center on multiple occasions. His teachers and mentors include Melinda Wagner, Robert Beaser, Alan Belkin, Gonzalo Macías and Arturo Márquez.
His music is catchy, accessible and with a distinguished Latin flare, which has connected and delighted audiences around the world. His audience includes over 9,000 subscribers on YouTube, thousands of monthly listeners on Spotify and several top fans who buy his merch and sheet music through his website and eagerly await his next move.
2023
- He was commissioned by David Alan Miller to compose music for Albany Symphony's Dogs of Desire.
- He was commissioned by David Alan Miller to write music for the Little Orchestra Society.
- He achieved 6,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
- Won another International Songwriting Competition in the Latin music category.
2022
- He was invited to participate by the American Composer's orchestra in a reading and recording of his work "Tumbao" by the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.
- He was commissioned to compose a piece for the "Off the Chamber" ensemble.
- He released his Cumbia Concerto (cello concerto), performed by Zlatomir Fung to all streaming services.
- He was invited by Saul Ibarra to host the first edition of the Axixic Music Festival in Guadalajara, México.
- He was among the winnners of the International Songwriting Competition.
2021
- He received a commission to compose a violin concerto for Simón Gollo.
- He recevied a commision from Miguel Ángel Villanueva to composer a piece for his flute trio.
- Released his first commercial single (FLARE) to all streaming services. He fully produced the music video and master recording.
2020
- He won the New Juilliard Ensemble competition, resulting in a commission by Dr. Joel Sachs to write a cello concerto for Zlatomir Fung to be premiered in May of 2021.
- He collaborated with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre on a video for social media. Mexican choreographer and ballerina Christian Garcia Ocampo choreographed his composition “Güiro” for two violins.
- He was awarded the Blueprint Fellowship, resulting in a commission to write an interdisciplinary piece to be premiered at the prestigious National Sawdust venue in January of 2021.
- His educational video “How to write a Salsa for Orchestra” was selected by the Culture Secretariat of Mexico to be distributed online through its “Contigo en la distancia” call for submissions.
- Collaborated with American librettist, director and choreographer John de Los Santos in an opera entitled "Las Culebras". It was going to receive a premiere in April of 2020 but has been postponed because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
2019
- His composition “Tumbao” won the annual Juilliard composer competition and was be premiered under the direction of Maestro Jeffrey Milarsky with The Julliard Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall in February 2020.
- He was awarded an honorable mention in the Flute View’s Composer Competition for the James Galway Festival in Switzerland for his flute sextet entitled Montuno for Six.
2018
- In November of 2018, Horacio made his debut with the 5 de Mayo Philharmonic as a composer and soloist of with his work "Bembé."
- In April, he was commissioned to write music for Physics of Music CERN’S Cosmic Piano in Sophia, Bulgaria where he composed and performed in both piano and cosmic piano.
- He was also a commissioned composer in the 7th artistic festival of Autumn of the Jornadas INBA-SACM. His piece "El Desierto" was premiered at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
2016
- In December 2016, he won the third edition of the Arturo Márquez Orchestral Composition Contest. His work "Latin Fantasy & Fugue (Talavera)" was performed on December 1, 2016 at the auditorium of the Centro Cultural Roberto Cantoral in Mexico City.
2015
- In september 2015, he composed for short film "Jocho," produced and directed by Luis Caraza, a Mexican filmmaker. The short film went on to win the Latin-American Contest of Computer Physics Final-Continental.
2014
- In September 2014, he collaborated with Mexican Playwright Rodolfo Pineda Bernal in a musical about the life and work of German phycologist Victor Frankl. Horacio wrote all of the music and collaborated with the playwright in the lyrics. The play received several performances across Mexico city and Puebla City.
Horacio Fernández Vázquez is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in composition at The Juilliard School of Music, class of ’22. He studied at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla and the Lyon Conservatory, in France. His mentors include Robert Beaser, Alan Belkin, Gonzalo Macías and Arturo Márquez.