The Intelligent Instruments Lab, together with the School of Education at the University of Iceland, is excited to welcome Dr. Raymond Torres-Santos, Professor of Music Composition and Theory at California State University, Long Beach, who will be presenting at our next Open Lab.

Where: University of Iceland. Edda, room 218

When: Friday, September 12th, 3:00 – 4:30 PM

Music and Architecture

The presentation provides a synthesis of the multiple practices, approaches and methods available, which lead to clearly understanding how music has been translated into visual spaces and vice versa. Music and architecture are both compositional arts. Music, the ancient art of organizing sound in time, and Architecture, that of the ordering and configuration of space, are united by their common principles; that is, rhythm, proportion, scale, harmony and texture. The presentation is the intersection of music history, theory, analysis, acoustics and composition as well as related interdisciplinary topics (architecture, geometry, astronomy, art, etc.).

Bio:

Dr. Raymond Torres-Santos has a multifaceted career as a composer, conductor, pianist, and arranger, producer, author and educator. He is equally comfortable in classical and popular music, and his works span various genres, including orchestral, electronic, and vocal music. He has composed music for the concert hall, ballet, film, theater, television, and radio. He has been hailed as the most versatile Puerto Rican composer of the 21st century by Malena Kuss in her book “Music in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Encyclopedic History.”

His music has been performed, commissioned and/or recorded by various prestigious symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles and singers, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Prague Radio Symphony, National Chinese Orchestra, Washington Opera Orchestra, Canadian Opera Orchestra, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Continuum, New Jersey Chamber Music Society, North/South Consonance, Quintet of the Americas, Puerto Rico Symphony, Plácido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli, Deborah Voigt, Angela Gheorghiu, Ana María Martínez, Anita Rachvilishvili, and Juan Luis Guerra.

His compositions and arrangements have been recorded for Sony Music, OSPR and SJP record labels; published by ANCO and RTS Music; and distributed by commercial retailers. He is the recipient of awards given by BMI, Meet the Composer, American Composers Forum, American Music Center, ASCAP, California State University and City University of New York. His music for film earned him a Henry Mancini Award, while his jazz composition earned him the Frank Sinatra Award, both given in Los Angeles.

As a conductor, he has led the London Session Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic, Cosmopolitan Symphony Orchestra, Puerto Rico Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, Dominican Republic National Orchestra, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Bronx Arts Ensemble Orchestra, and Hollywood studio orchestras in concerts and recordings.

His scholarly work focuses on music education, creativity, multiculturalism, music criticism and inter-disciplinary studies. His book, Music Education in the Caribbean and Latin America: A Comprehensive Guide, was recently published by the National Association of Music Education in conjunction with Rowman & Littlefield; while his scholarly articles appear in peer-reviewed journals from The City University of New York and Hofstra University; and his book chapters in books published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing and Almenara Press.

Dr. Torres-Santos is currently professor of music composition and theory at the University of California, Long Beach, where he was the Dean of the College of the Arts. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, and the University of Puerto Rico, where he also studied architecture. He hold a Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in music composition at UCLA. He has also carried out post-doctoral studies at the Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Germany, and at the University of Padua, Italy as well as Stanford and Harvard Universities.

He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC) and has served as a judge for the Grammys produced by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

We look forward to seeing you!

Free entry, accessible to all.