Sergio Berlioz
Sergio E. Berlioz (born 1963, Mexico City) is a composer and musicologist who has taught more than 2000 classes in leading universities and cultural centers throughout Mexico, the Czech Republic and has 28 years of academic experience . He currently teaches in Casa Lamm, where his famous Musical Wednesday conferences have become popular,[1] and in the Instituto Cultural México Israel.
Life
Berlioz has published more than a thousand articles and essays in Mexico, Hungary, Greece, United States, Argentina, Peru, Turkey, Morocco, Belgium and Israel.
As musical conductor, he has worked with Lorin Maazel, George Sebastian, Plácido Domingo, Ramón Vargas, Samuel Máynez, Horacio Franco and Juan Trigos, among others; and has served as personal assistant to Kurt Redel, Eduardo Díaz-Muñoz (Orquesta Filarmónica del Conservatorio Nacional de Música de la Ciudad de México and the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM), and to Leonard Bernstein.
He has been guest conductor for the Orquesta Sinfónica and the Orquesta de Cámara de la Universidad de Guanajuato, Orquesta Sinfónica de San Luis Potosí, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Coyoacán, the Orquesta Filarmónica del Conservatorio Nacional de Música, the Coro del Instituto Cardenal Miranda, the Ensamble Contemporáneo and the Orquesta de Cámara de la Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, and the Symphony Orchestra of the City of Puebla.[2] In 1986, Berlioz founded the Orquesta de Cámara Ensamble Contemporáneo Independiente, of which he has been Director, and with which he has toured through Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Puebla and Mexico City, premiering in this city original compositions by Messiaen, Estrada, Bartók and Janáček, as well as by a new generation of Mexican composers.
Awards
He is the winner of the 1989 Premio Nacional de Periodismo, and in 1992 the Honorary Mention of the Premio Nacional de Periodismo Musical “Esperanza Pulido”. He was also awarded the Premio Instituto Cultural México-Israel 2003 for his outstanding career as a journalist in Mexico and Israel.
In December 1998, he was acknowledged by the Hungarian government for his research on the music of Béla Bartók; and in June 1999 he was given the Leoš Janáček Medal in the Czech Republic.
Composition
He has composed two symphonies, six string quartets, a requiem, and two symphonic poems, as well as concertos for flute and cello, an octet for cello, sonatas, trios, quintets, and others. Some highlights include the Second String Quartet “Yizkor”, Three Postcards for Oboe and Double String Orchestra, First Symphony Etz Chaim (Tree of Life), Second Symphony Undefeated Voices, for symphonic orchestra, soloists and double mixed chorus, Réquiem por las almas de arena (For the Souls of Sand), the symphonic poems Las vías del tiempo: Homenaje a Claudio Magris (The Rails of Time, for Claudio Magris), and Toledo: La ciudad de las generaciones (Toledo, City of Generations), his Concerto for flute, chorus, and strings Ángeles de proa (Rowing Angels), and his Concerto for cello Chalomei Assaf (The Dreams of Assaf).
Other works
He is also the author of Educar con música, published by Editorial Aguilar. Currently, he is host of the cultural talk show "Biblioteca Pública", which can be heard every Sunday on Radio Red.