José Martínez

Education

D.M.A. in Music Composition – Emphasis in Electroacoustic Music – University of Texas at Austin.
M.M. in Music Composition- Certificate in Music Entrepreneurship – University of Missouri.
B.M. in Percussion Performance and Composition – Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Bogotá.

Areas of Expertise

• Interdisciplinary Collaboration

• Music and Technology Pedagogy

• Computer Algorithmic Aided Composition

• Performance with live electronics

• Implementations of Neural Networks in music performance and creation

• Music for Orchestra, chamber ensemble, solo instruments, and electronics

• Afro-Latin drumming

Personal Information

José’s music incorporates a wide range of influences from Colombian folk tunes to contemporary composition techniques while borrowing from Latin music, heavy metal, and audio sampling techniques. His works range from solo pieces with electronics to orchestral works, passing through chamber ensembles, electroacoustic pieces, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Among others, his music has been performed by groups such as Alarm Will Sound, Wild Up, Grammy award-winning quartet Third Coast Percussion. An alumnus in percussion and composition of the National University of Colombia, he studied composition at the University of Missouri and UT Austin. José was Visiting Professor at East Carolina University and at New College of Florida. José’s music has also been presented by Spanish ensemble Taller Sonoro, LA-based Piano duo Hockett Duo, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s from New York City, Grupo de Cámara de Bogotá, and Austin based percussion ensemble Line Upon Line, among others. He has participated in institutes and festivals such as Banff Ensemble Evolution program, DeGaetano, Splice, SEAMUS, Missouri International Composer Festival, Line Upon Line Winter Composer Festival, ClarinetFest, and VIPA. José is a recipient of the 2008 National Composition Prize for Young Composers, the 2011 “Ciudad de Bogotá” Composition Award, and the 2013 National Cultural Prize. In the US has received the 2013 Sinquefield Composition Prize and the 2019 Rain Water Grant for Innovation. He is part of the C3 Collective and artistic director of the concert series Stack Overflow, which creates opportunities for composers interested in electronics.

Current Research

PPIEL – Percussion Performance with Interactive Electronics: A flexible performance system for live processing, sampling, improvisation, and lots of noise-making. It has been used to develop multimedia collaborations with video and dance as well as solo performances. Garabato – Musical Gesture Generator: This device allows the user to create musical gestures by entering parameters such as melodic profile, dynamic curve, and length. It was created using the CAC (Computer-Aided Composition) bach, cage, dada, packages for Max. It uses Machine Learning to create specific timbral transformations, executed using Wekinator and the ml.* package for Max.

Publications

Refused, for soprano, cello, and electronics. Commissioned by duet Mazumal. 2020. Self-Portrait, for electronics quartet, performed by Line Upon Line. 2020 En El Otro Lado/On the Other Side, for orchestra, Performed by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. 2019 Mutaciones I, for orchestra, performed by EAFIT Orchestra, Medellín, Colombia. 2018 Two Questions About Time for percussion quartet, commissioned by Third Coast Percussion. 2016 Danzas Tórridas for sinfonietta. Performed by Alarm Will Sound. 2014