Lanza, Alcides (1929–)

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Lanza, Alcides (1929–)

Alcides Lanza is an Argentine-Canadian composer. Born in Rosario, Argentina, on June 2, 1929, Lanza studied composition with Julián Batista and Alberto Ginastera. He continued his studies at the Instituto Di Tella in Buenos Aires (1963–1964). From 1959 to 1965 he was a member of the artistic staff of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, where he became one of the founding members of Agrupación Música Viva. Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1965, he studied with Ussachevsky and Mimaroglu at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Centre in New York. Since 1971, he has been professor of composition and electronic music at McGill University in Montreal, becoming a naturalized Canadian in 1976.

Showing the influence of his earlier architectural studies, his scores are based on ideograms, graphisms, and drawings, all intended to give a direct representation of his musical ideas. A substantial amount of Lanza's production includes electroacoustics either on tape, live processing, or both. Notable are several pieces written for his life and artistic partner the actress-singer Meg Sheppard, with whom he has performed extensively in Canada and elsewhere promoting his music and that of many Latin American and Canadian avant-garde composers. Lanza's scores and recordings are published by Editions Shelan Publications in Montreal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

John Vinton, ed., Dictionary of Contemporary Music (1971).

Gérard Béhague, Music in Latin America: An Introduction (1979).

Andrée Laurier, "Le compositeur À l'ère de l'électronique et des nouvelles facilités de la composition," in Le compositeur canadien (March 1984): 15-19.