Juan Orrego-Salas was born in Santiago, Chile, January 18, 1919. He received his basic training as a musician in his native country. Simultaneously, he studied architecture. By the time he graduated as an architect, he had earned positions as a member of the Music Faculty at the University of Chile and Artistic Director of the Catholic University Choir in Santiago. Two successive fellowships, from the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations, brought him to the United States where he studied with Randall Thompson and Aaron Copland. Subsequently, he held various prestigious positions as a musician in his home country. In 1961, he moved to the United States to become the first Director of the Latin American Music Center and member of the composition faculty at the School of Music of Indiana University, where he served until his retirement in 1987. His catalog includes over 100 compositions for a variety of genres, ensembles, and solo performers. He has received commissions from the Koussevitsky, Coolidge, Wechsler, and Kindler Foundations, from the NEA, the National Symphony, the Louisville and the Indianapolis Orchestras, and from Cornell, Miami, and Trinity Universities, among others. His orchestral works have been conducted by Barbirolli, Busch, Celibidache, Chavez, Dorati, Izquierdo, Kletzki, Markevitch, Paray, Scherchen, and Stokowski, and his chamber works played by the Juilliard String Quartets and the Beaux Arts Trio. He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the Catholic University of Chile, of the Inter-American Gabriela Mistral Award, and of the Olga Cohen Prize for Composition.
Tracks
- Tangos, Op. 82
- Glosas, Op. 91
Serenata, Op. 70 - Largo
- Allegretto
- Lento-Cantabile
- Energico-Vivo
Mobile, Op. 63
- Flessibile
- Discontinuo
- Ricorrente
- Perpetuo
Violin Concerto, Op. 86
- Allegro gentile
- Adagio espressivo
- Allegro rutilante
