Gabriel José Bolaños (b. 1984 Bogotá, Colombia)
is a Nicaraguan-American composer of solo, chamber, orchestral
and electronic music. He holds a PhD in composition from UC Davis
and a BA from Columbia University. He is currently an Assistant
Professor at the Herberger Institute for Design and the
Arts, School of Music, Dance and Theater at Arizona State.
His principal composition teachers include Mika Pelo, Pablo
Ortiz, Laurie San Martin, Fabien Lévy, and Sebastian Currier, and
he studied orchestration with Tristan Murail. He likes to write
music that explores unusual timbres and structures, and is
interested in computer-assisted-composition, auditory perception,
and linguistics. His recent music engages with theories of
ecological listening: how our sense of hearing evolved primarily
to interpret our environment. He enjoys listening to music by
Harvey, Furrer, Ligeti, Grisey, Cerha, Romitelli, Messiaen, Os
Mutantes, Sabicas, and Bach.
Alumnus Gabriel José Bolaños (Ph.D., composition, ‘15) is
the recipient of the 2022 Suzanne and Lee Ettelson
Composer’s Award for his work nosotros hemos puesto los
muertos for bass flute, violin, cello, and double
bass.
UC Davis music department composition alumnus Gabriel José
Bolaños (PhD 2016) will join the music faculty
at Arizona State University starting Fall of 2019. His recent
music engages with theories of ecological listening: how our
sense of hearing evolved primarily to interpret our environment.
The Empyrean Ensemble — the professional group at UC Davis
dedicated to performing new music — will give a concert
titled “Young and Restless” at 7 pm, Sunday, April 26, in the
Vanderhoef Studio Theatre at UC Davis.
