About Me

Photo: Ellen Zaslaw

 
 

For more than a decade the works of American composer Roberto Sierra have been part of the repertoire of many of the leading orchestras, ensembles and festivals in the USA and Europe. At the inaugural concert of the 2002 world renowned Proms in London, his Fandangos was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a concert that was broadcast by both the BBC Radio and Television throughout the UK and Europe. Sierra's numerous commissions include works for many of the major American and European orchestras. International ensembles that have performed his works include the orchestras of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, New Mexico, Houston, Minnesota, Dallas, Detroit, San Antonio and Phoenix, as well as by the American Composers Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the Spanish orchestras of Madrid, Galicia, Castilla y León and Barcelona, among others.


Commissioned works include: Concerto for Orchestra for  the centennial celebrations of the Philadelphia Orchestra commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation and the Philadelphia Orchestra; Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for James Carter; Fandangos and Missa Latina commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC; Sinfonía No. 3 "La Salsa", commissioned by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Danzas Concertantes for guitar and orchestra commissioned by the Orquesta de Castilla y León; Double Concerto for violin and viola co-commissioned by the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Orchestras; Bongo+ commissioned by the Juilliard School in celebration of the 100th anniversary; Songs from the Diaspora commissioned by Music Accord for Heidi Grant Murphy, Kevin Murphy and the St. Lawrence String Quartet; and Concierto de Cámara co-commissioned by the the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest and Stanford Lively Arts.


In 2003 he was awarded the Academy Award in Music by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The award states:  "Roberto Sierra writes brilliant music, mixing fresh and personal melodic lines with sparkling harmonies and striking rhythms. . ." His Sinfonía No. 1, a work commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, won the 2004 Kenneth Davenport Competition for Orchestral Works. In 2007 the Serge and Olga Koussevitzky International Recording Award (KIRA) was awarded to the Albany Records for the recording of his composition Sinfonía No. 3 “La Salsa”. Roberto Sierra has served as Composer-In-Residence with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra  and New Mexico Symphony.


Roberto Sierra's Music may be heard on CD's by Naxos, EMI, New World Records, Albany Records, Koch, New Albion, Koss Classics, BMG, Fleur de Son and other labels. In the spring of 2004 EMI Classics released his two guitar concertos Folias and Concierto Barroco with Manuel Barrueco as soloist (released by Koch in the USA on 2005). Roberto Sierra was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, and studied composition both in Puerto Rico and Europe, where one his teachers was György Ligeti at the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, Germany. The works of Roberto Sierra are published principally by Subito Music Publishing (ASCAP).

 

Selected Performances

Click here for a list of past performances



Sinfonía No. 4

August 5, 2010

Summer Music Festival 2010

Festival Orchestra, Indiana University

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor


Trio No. 3 “Romántico”

August 12, 2010

Trio Arbós

Festival de Santander

Spain


Cancionero Sefardí

September 12, 19 & 26, 2010

Argento Chamber Ensemble

Austrian Cultural Forum, NY


Fandangos & Alegría

September 24, 2010

Manhattan School of Music Wind Ensemble

H. Robert Reynolds, Conductor


Sonata for violin and piano

October 2, 2010

Renee Jolles, violin

Joel Sachs, piano

Continuum Concert  at Cornell (Barnes Hall)


Songs from the Diaspora

October 5, 2010

Holly Bewlay, soprano, Susan Schuman , piano & the Clara String Quartet

Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall

Buffalo State University of New York


Recordando una melodía olvidada &

Turner

October 5, 2010

Lontano Ensemble, Odaline de la Martinez

conductor

London Festival of American Music

The Wharehouse, London


Eros

October 6, 2010

Rowland Sutherland  flute and Mary Dullea, piano

London Festival of American Music

The Wharehouse, London


Sinfonía No. 4

October 14, 15 & 16, 2010

Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor


Sinfonía No. 3 “La Salsa”

October 24, 2010

Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra

Brendan Townsend, conductor


Preludios Caprichosos

November 11, 2010

Ian Hobson, piano

DiCapo Opera Theater, NY


Sinfonía No. 3 “La Salsa”

November 13, 2010

Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra

Guillermo Figueroa, conductor



Sinfonía No. 4

January 27, 28 & 30

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Juanjo Mena, conductor


Sinfonía No. 4

January  28 & 29, 2011

Kansas City Symphony

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor


Sonata para guitarra

March 11, 2011

Manuel Barrueco

Casals Festival, Puerto Rico


Fandangos

March 25 & 26, 2011

Syracuse Symphony Orchestra

JoAnn Falletta, conductor


Suite de canciones y danzas

March 26, 2011

Zuill Bailey, cello

Piers Lane, piano

Chamber Music Society of Detroit


Los destellos de la resonancia

April 1, 2011

Duo Gerassimez

Musikfestspiele Sanssouci

und Nikolaisaal Potsdam

Germany


Folias

April 2 & 3, 2011

Jason Vieux, guitar

Orquesta Filarmónica de la Cuidad de México, Sala Silvestre Revueltas


Danzas Concertantes

April 7 & 8, 2011

Orquesta del Principado de Asturias

Manuel Barrueco, guitar

Nacho de Paz, conductor


Tercera crónica del descubrimiento

June 5, 2011

Duo Stromeaux

Treetops Studio

Stamford, Connecticut


Fandangos

June 5, 2011

Westerville Symphony at Otterbein College
Peter Stafford Wilson, Conductor


Missa Latina

June 11 & 12, 2011

Victoria Bach Festival

Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano

Nathaniel Webster, baritone

Craig Hella Johnson, conductor

Austin, Texas