Artburst: music, dance, theater, etc.

COMPOSER’S BIO
Argentine composer Valdo Sciammarella began his prolific career as a concert pianist in Buenos Aires. 

Throughout his life, he worked as a composer and choral director.  In the 1950s, his unique style emerges, strong and decisive.  During this time, he composed Cantigas de Amigo and a series of symphonic and vocal works: Canzona (1954); Cantata para la fundación de Buenos Aires (1956), based on the text of Argentine poet Juan de Garay; and using the text of famed Spanish author Miguel de Unamuno, Salmo 1 (1956).  Also during this period, Sciammarella composed Cánticos rituales based on the texts of the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.  In 1957, he composed the music for the opera, Marianita limeña, which won him a National Prize in 1958.  It is also during these years that Sciammarella began writing for the theater and for films.  For the theater, he wrote a total of twenty-four works between the years of 1953-1968.  In 1959, he composed music for four films including the film, Spilimbergo, a documentary about the painter; the film was presented in the Bienal cinematográfica of Venice in 1960. 

In the 1960s, with the German choreographer, Renate Schottelius, Sciammarella began to work with both dance and music, fulfilling one of his life’s ambitions.  During this time, he composed Canciones para la vida y para la muerte, commissioned by the soprano, Phyllis Curtin.  The work premiered in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

From the 1960s to the present, Sciammarella continues to create his astounding musical masterpieces, redefining his own music as well as musical genres.  These talents earned him a place as a member of the National Academy of the Arts in 1985.  In 1991, he was honored with a national prize by the Argentine government for la Sonata en Mí.  In 1995, he won the prize “Malvinas argentinas” for el Concierto para piano y orquesta.  Canciones de amor earned the Carlos López Buchardo prize in 1992.  With his latest works, he challenges and stretches his musical genius with creations such as Variaciones sobre el tema popular ‘Palomita blanca’ for the marimba and violin in 2000.  In 2001, he composed the Sinfonía ‘Verra la morte’ based on the work of Cesare Pavese.  In addition, he has directed the choirs of the Wagnerian Association of Buenos Aires, the Caracas Opera, and the National Lyrical Theater of the