Arturo Márquez - Danzón Nº 2 
Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra (of Venezuela)
2007 Proms, Broadcast Recording
This is one of my favorite pieces of Mexican Orchestral music-- it is not very "edgy", but mixes some romanticism and some very jazzy rhythms, and seems to appeal to a very broad cross section of listeners. Dudamel made a BIG impression at the 2007 Proms with this performance. My children's former music teacher is Venezuelan (a follower of la Systema) and every year or two arranges a "international youth orchestra symposium" (about 90% Venezuelan), and she insists on conducting this piece every time. I never tire of it-- or of watching the complete abandon she throws herself into when she conducts the second half of the work-- it's like she is dancing against the sea of sound, and it's one of the few works where I really wish I could be conducting...
Anyway- a little more about Marquez--
Wikipedia BioArturo Márquez (born 20 December 1950) is a Mexican composer of orchestra music who uses musical forms and styles of his native Mexico and incorporates them into his compositions.
LifeMárquez was born in Álamos, Sonora, in 1950 where his interest in music began. Marquez is the first born of nine children of Arturo Marquez and Aurora Marquez Navarro. Marquez was the only one of the nine siblings who became a musician. Marquez's father was a mariachi musician in Mexico and later in Los Angeles and his paternal grandfather was a Mexican folk musician in the northern states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Because of Marquez's father and grandfather, he was exposed to several musical styles in his childhood, particularly Mexican "salon music" which would be the impetus for his later musical repertoire.
In his late childhood the family immigrated to Southern California settling in La Puente, a suburb of Los Angeles. There he attended Fairgrove Junior High school and William Workman High School. In junior high school he began to play the trombone under the direction of Mr. Rossetti, the school's band director, and continued playing in high school. While living in La Puente he started formal studies in music enrolling in violin and trombone lessons. He had started piano studies in Alamos, Sonora and when the family immigrated to the U.S. he continued more extensive piano lessons in the home of Mrs. Eva McGowan, a local piano teacher. He started composing at the age of 16 and then attended the Mexican Music Conservatory where he studied with Federico Ibarra, Joaquín Gutiérrez Heras and Héctor Quintanar. Márquez was then awarded a scholarship by the French government to study composition in Paris with Jacques Casterede. Subsequently, in the U.S., he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and obtained a MFA in composition from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. There he studied with Morton Subotnick, Mel Powell, Lucky Mosko, and James Newton.
Although Márquez was already an accomplished composer in Mexico,
his music started to reach the international stage with the introduction of his series of Danzones in the early 1990s. The Danzones are based on the music of Cuba and the Veracruz region of Mexico. Danzon no. 2 was included on the program of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel on their 2007 tour of Europe and the United States. As a result of the strong public response to the orchestra's performance of the piece, Danzon no. 2 has established itself as one of the signature pieces performed by the orchestra. It has also opened the door for the discovery of other pieces by the composer that are increasingly being performed throughout the world and extensively in Latin America. Son a Tamayo for harp, percussion and tape was featured at the 1996 World Harp Congress.
Marquez's music has been performed and recorded worldwide by a variety of chamber ensembles, symphony orchestras and soloists. He has composed numerous scores for film and dance works. He has received commissions and fellowships from among others, the Universidad Metropolitana de Mexico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Festival Cervantino, Festival del Caribe, the World's Fair in Sevilla in 1992, the Rockefeller Foundation and Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, (CONACULTA). He currently works at the National University of Mexico, Superior School of Music and CENIDIM (National Center of Research, Documentation and Information of Mexican Music). He lives with his family in Mexico City.
AwardsMárquez has been the recipient of several prestigious awards and honors. Marquez was awarded the National Arts and Sciences (Premio Nacional de Artes y Sciences) award of Mexico by President Felipe Calderon on December 14, 2009. In February 2006, he made history when he became the first musician to receive "La Medalla De Oro De Bellas Artes de Mexico" (Gold Medal of Fine Arts of Mexico), one of Mexico's most coveted award for career accomplishments in the fine arts. Other awards have included the Medalla Mozart (awarded by the Austrian embassy), Medalla Dr. Alfonso Ortiz Tirado, California Institute of the Arts Distinguished Alumnus Award, Union de Cronistas de Musica y de Teatro, and many others. In 2000, the German public paid homage to the composer at a concert in his honor in Berlin.
Marquez has also been honored at several musical festivals throughout Latin America where his music has been performed extensively and has obtained a large following. In 2005, the Arturo Marquez International Music Festival was commenced in Caracas, Venezuela in honor of the composer. His Danzones are increasingly being used for ballet productions throughout the world. Although regarded by many as a controversial composer for his use of Latin American styles in his compositions, he is a popular composer among the Latin American public and is widely recognized as one of the most important and admired Mexican composers of his generation.
