Blas Emilio Atehortúa, one of the most prolific living Colombian composers is in Caracas to attend a concert by the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra Venezuela that features four of his works: Estudios Sinfónicos (1968), Upsura El Fénix (2009), Concertante Antifonal (1994) and Tres Poemas Fantásticos. The concert, led by maestro César Iván Lara, will be held on Thursday, March 15, at 5:00 p. m. at the Simón Bolívar Hall of the Center for Social Action through Music.

Born in 1943 in Santa Elena (Antioquia), Atehortúa composed his first work at the age of 10. He has produced 85 works for orchestra, 64 for chamber ensembles, 25 for solo instruments, 15 for symphonic choirs, and 38 pieces including cantatas, songs, elegies and soundtracks. The composer is also a renowned educator and orchestral conductor. He has worked for the Universidad de Colombia, the Antioquia Conservatory and the Universidad de Santander, and has also taught at conservatories in the United States and the IUDEM in Venezuela.

Since 2002 Atertohúa holds the chair of Latin American Composition at the System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela. In 2011, the Arts Faculty of the Universidad El Bosque (Colombia) published a book entitled La música de Blas Atehortúa in which composer Pedro Sarmiento presents a theoretical, aesthetic and stylistic analysis of his orchestral works, and points out that these have been played mostly by Venezuelan and American Orchestras.

Concert details.