Manuel Rocha Iturbide (born 1963 in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

) is a Mexican composer and sound artist.

Biography

Manuel Rocha Iturbide was born in 1963 in Mexico City. He started his musical studies when he was 13 years old. In 1983, after studying musical pedagogy in Lyon, France for one year, he decided to start a career as composer at the Escuela Nacional de Musica of the University of Mexico. The extremely academic and traditional studies of that institution led him to explore different creative ways beyond instrumental music, so he practiced photography at "Taller de los Lunes", a workshop organized by Mexican digital photography pioneer Pedro Meyer. In 1989 he realized his first sound sculpture at the milestone exhibition "14 artists around Joseph Beuyce" in Mexico City, with important Mexican artists from his generation such as Gabriel Orozco. In 1989, Rocha Iturbide traveled to

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

in the US, to pursue an MFA in electronic music. There, he composed "Frost Clear", a piece for amplified refrigerator, double bass and electronic sounds which he has played through the years at different important festivals such as the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival in 2006. In 1991, Rocha Iturbide traveled to France where he studied and worked as a researcher at

IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of Avant-garde music, avant garde and Electroacoustic ...

, and where he pursued his doctoral thesis on granular synthesis and

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

in relation to sound from 1992 to 1999. In these years, he worked with Curtis Roads and

Barry Truax Barry Truax (born 1947) is a Canadian composer who specializes in real-time implementations of granular synthesis, often of sampled sounds, and soundscapes. He is credited with developing the first ever implementation of real-time granular s ...

, two of the most important pioneers on granular synthesis computer music techniques. In 1999 the president of the jury of his doctoral thesis defense was Jean Claude Risset. The name of his thesis was "The granular synthesis techniques". The influence of this research can be seen in different

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a Music genre, genre of Western art music in which composers use recording technology and audio signal processing to manipulate the timbres of Acoustics, acoustic sounds in the creation of pieces of music. It originated a ...

works of this composer: "Transiciones de Fase" for brass quintet and electronic sounds (1994), "Moin Mor" for electronic sounds (1995), and "SL-9" for electronic sounds (1994). At his return to Mexico after seven years abroad, Rocha Iturbide devoted himself to

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary Time-based media, time-based Artistic medium, medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in Cross-genr ...

, being one of its pioneers and biggest promoters. His first important work at that stage was "Ping-Roll", an aluminum ping pong table with speakers underneath, where over 60 ping pong balls reacted to the continuous and discontinuous sounds produced by sine waves and bouncing sounds, jumping and then rolling. This sound sculpture was exhibited at the Sidney Biennale in 1998. In 2000, during his stay in Japan, thanks to the Japan Foundation Scholarship, his work was exhibited at the SURGE gallery and at the Kyoto Art Center, also with electronic music, photography and video. In the year 2002 in Venezuela an exhibition of sculptures and sound installations in Fine Arts of Caracas was held, as well as an individual exhibition in the AVATAR art space in Quebec. Canada. He taught courses in Art History and Aesthetics (1987–88), computer music at the University of Paris VIII (1995–96), interactive art at the Multimedia Center at the CNA (1997-1998) and sound art at the Esmeralda. Iturbide's work has been devoted to sound art and electroacoustic music, and he has had important commissions in both fields. In 2006 he received a commission from the Arditti Quartet, the composition "Tetraktis" for string quartet and 4 digital tracks, and in 2010 a commission from the Japanese piano player Aki Takahashi for piano and electronic sounds ("Ashimakase"). Rocha Iturbide has also been the curator of the international sound art festival in Mexico. As a researcher, he has written articles about the history of electroacoustic music and sound art in Mexico, and about the aesthetics of sound art expressions, such as sound installations and sound sculptures.

Selected electroacoustic compositions

*''Avidya'' for tape. 1989. *''Atl'' for tape. 1990. *''Semi No Koe'' for flute and tape. 2001. *''Cantos Rituales'' for tape. 2003. *''S-36-A'' for 19 digital tracks. 2004. Commission from the "Oasis sonoro" project. *''Purusha-Prakrti'' for tape. 2005. Commission from the IMEB electroacoustic music institute in

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

, France. *''Light and Dust'' for oboe and tape. 2006. *''Tetraktys'' for string quartet and 4 digital tracks. 2007. Commission from the Arditti String Quartet. *''Ashimakase'' for piano and electronic sounds. 2010. Commission from Japanese pianist Aki Takahashi.

Selected sound art works

*''(+ * -) = -'' sound sculpture. 1989. *''Ligne d'abandon'' conceptual sound piece in collaboration with Gabriel Orozco. 1994. *''Mechanisms for the absolution of waste'' sound installation. 1997. *''Rebicyling'' sound Installation. 2000. *''El eco esta en todas partes'' Sound installation. 2003. Commission for the art collection JUMEX. *''I play the drums with frequency'' sound installation. 2007. *''Sónca Tal'' sound sculpture. 2010.

Selected exhibitions

Iturbide has had solo exhibitions in ARCO 99 in Madrid, Spain; Surge Gallery in Tokyo, Japan; and Avatar in Quebec, Canada, in 2002. His work has appeared in collective exhibitions in Chantal Crousel Gallery (Paris, France, 1994); Lines of Loss in Artists Space (New York, 1997); Sydney International Biennial (Australia, 1998); Project Rooms of the ARCO Fair (1999); Nothing in Roseeum (Malmo, Switzerland , 2001); AVATAR (Quebec, Canada, 2002); Puddles Artists-Initiative links (Tokyo Japan, 2003); Jumex Collection (Mexico City, 2003 and 2006); Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas (Venezuela, 2003); Koldo de Mixtelena (San Sebastian, Spain, 2007); International Forum of Cultures (Monterrey, 2007); Eco Museum (Mexico City, 2008); McBean Gallery (San Francisco, California, 2010); Xng Dong Chaeng Space for Contemporary Art (Pekin, China, 2011); MUAC (Mexico City, 2012); Le Laboratoire Gallery (Mexico City, 2012 and 2014, with respective curatorships of Ariadna Ramonetti and Michel Blancsubé); Prada Foundation (Venice, 2014); and Zona MACO 2013 (Prize 1800 José Cuervo), 2014 and 2015. *''Audio-Elf''. Score Cologne Festival, 11 June – 9 July 2006. *''Corte de Pelo'' *''La instalación sonora'' *''Off beat Japan''. Zone Zero, Japan, August 2001 – April 2002. *''Rebicycling''. Gallery Surge, Tokyo, 21 November – 2 December 2000. *Sound Oasis Project in Mexico City

Awards

He was awarded the FONCA Young Creators scholarship in 1993-94, in 1996 and 1997. He was awarded two prizes at the

Luigi Russolo Luigi Carlo Filippo Russolo (30 April 1885 – 4 February 1947) was an Italian Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto '' The Art of Noises'' (1913). Russolo completed his second ...

International Competition in Italy and two honorable mentions at the International Music Competition Electroacústica de Bourges, as well as the first prize of the festival of the year 2006, also obtained the BANFF scholarship in 1998, and a special mention in the FEMSA Biennial in the city of Monterrey.

References

External links

Official website
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