Dance of the Degas Ballerinas for Flute and Piano by Mario Lavista
Duration: c. 6:45
Born in Mexico City in 1943, composer Mario Lavista began piano studies as a child and enrolled at the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica in 1963 under the guidance of Carlos Chavez, Hector Quintanar and Rodolfo Halffter. He studies at the Schola Cantorum in Paris (1967-1969), where he also attended courses give by Henri Pousseur, Nadia Boulanger, Christoph Caskel and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Upon his return to Mexico he founded Quanta, a collective improvisation group. In 1972, he worked at the electronic music studio of radio and television in Tokyo, Japan. Around 1980, he explored extended techniques of traditional instruments in collaboration with flutist Marielene Arizpe, bassist Bertram Turetzky, oboist Leonora Saavedra and the string quartet Cuarteto Latinoamericano, in the compositions Triptico, Dusk, Marsias and Reflejos de la noche, respectively. In 1982, he founded Pauta, on of the most important music journals in Latin America, and has served as its chief editor ever since. As a writer, he has produced many essays, most of which are collected in “Textos en torno a la musica.”
In 1987, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his opera Aura, based on the short story by Carles Fuentes. He has received many awards, such as the Premio Nactional de Ciencias y Artes and the Medalla Mozart. Since 1998, Lavista has been a member of the prestigious El Colegio Nacional. He has taught in Mexico and abroad, especially in North American institutions, including the University of Chicago, Cornell University, the University of California San Diego, Indiana University and McGill University. His works are frequently performed by distinguished chamber and orchestral groups.
This edition was made possible by the support of The National Institute of Fine Arts, Mexico.
