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By Radiator Perlman

Updated 26 May 2023

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Artist	Javier Álvarez Fuentes
Credit	Sent personally
License	cc-by-sa-3.0
Desc	Picture of Javier Álvarez Fuentes (composer) Other information Picture of Javier Álvarez Fuentes (composer)
Usage	Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

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Mexican composer

Javier Álvarez is ...

Dead

Born	8 May 1956 in Mexico City
Died	24 May 2023 in Mérida
Age	67 years

Sex or gender	male
Country of citizenship	Mexico
Birth name	Javier \u00c1lvarez Fuentes
Occupation	composer and academic musician
Residence	Mérida
Awards	National Prize for Arts and Sciences
Educated at	City, University of London, Royal College of Music and National Conservatory of Music of Mexico
Field of work	music, film score and music composition

About Javier Álvarez

Javier Álvarez is a Mexican composer who has been pushing the boundaries of contemporary music for over three decades. Born on May 8, 1956, in Mexico City, Álvarez was drawn to music from a young age. He studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City and later at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in the Netherlands.

Álvarez's music is a fusion of traditional Mexican music, electronic music, and avant-garde techniques. He is known for his use of unconventional instruments, such as the maracas and the conch shell, and his incorporation of everyday sounds into his compositions.

Álvarez's breakthrough came in 1986 with his piece "Temazcal," which was inspired by a traditional Mexican sweat lodge ceremony. The piece features a solo maracas player accompanied by electronic sounds and has been performed around the world.

Since then, Álvarez has continued to create innovative and boundary-pushing music. He has collaborated with artists from a variety of disciplines, including dance, theater, and film. His work has been featured at major festivals and venues, including the Lincoln Center in New York and the Barbican Centre in London.

In addition to his work as a composer, Álvarez is also a respected educator. He has taught at institutions such as the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the University of California, San Diego.

Álvarez's contributions to contemporary music have been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the National Prize for Arts and Sciences in the Fine Arts category in 2018.

Through his music, Álvarez has brought Mexican culture to the forefront of the contemporary music scene and has inspired a new generation of composers to explore the boundaries of sound and tradition.

References:

- "Javier Álvarez." Boosey & Hawkes. Accessed September 1, 2021. https://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2765&ttype=BIOGRAPHY&ttitle=Biography.

- "Javier Álvarez." National Autonomous University of Mexico. Accessed September 1, 2021. https://www.musicologia.unam.mx/javier-alvarez/.