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Composer Jimmy López: Harmonia Mundi Debut and Lyric Opera Premiere of Bel Canto

Composer Jimmy López Celebrates Major Milestones this Fall with New Album and Premiere of Bel Canto

The dynamic young composer sees two exciting firsts in 2015: the first commercial release of four of his orchestral works in a new album on Harmonia Mundi, and the world premiere of the opera Bel Canto, commissioned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Renée Fleming Initiative.

Jimmy López: Four Orchestral Scores

The Norwegian Radio Orchestra conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya perform on the world premiere recordings of composer’s evocative orchestral pieces. Out on Harmonia Mundi August 14, 2015

The composer’s opera BEL CANTO to receive its world premiere at Lyric Opera, Chicago Kevin Newbury directs all-star cast led by Danielle de Niese and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.

Performance Dates: December 7, 10 & 12, 2015; January 5, 8, 13 & 17, 2016

“López is one of the most interesting young composers anywhere today” – Chicago Sun-Times

“Mr. López proves himself expert in orchestration” – New York Times

July 14, 2015 (New York, NY) – Jimmy López (b. 1978), “one of the most admired among the younger generation of South American composers” (Chicago Tribune), is concluding 2015 with enough exuberance and esteem to rival his very compositions.  The award-winning composer, born and raised in Peru and musically educated in Finland and the United States, will celebrate the Harmonia Mundi release of four of his orchestral scores, as well as the world premiere of his new opera Bel Canto; a thrilling and auspicious Lyric Opera production of a riveting story based on the best-selling novel and real-life events.

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On August 14, 2015, Harmonia Mundi (http://www.hm-distribution.com/blog/2015/6/1/harmonia-mundi-usa-releases-two-orchestral-albums-featuring-miguel-harth-bedoya-leading-the-norwegian-radio-orchestra?utm_source=01-14-09_Contacts&utm_campaign=901cbecefb-Jimmy+Lopez&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1497688fe3-901cbecefb-59975090) will release the world premiere recording of works by Jimmy López, featuring Grammy®-nominated and Emmy Award-winning conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya leading the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, where he has served as Chief Conductor since 2013. Mr. Harth-Bedoya has championed the work of fellow-Peruvian Jimmy López for nearly two decades.

The disc features four of López’s orchestral scores: “Perú Negro” (2012), “América Salvaje” (2006), “Lord of the Air” (2012) – a cello concerto dedicated to its soloist – Jesús Castro-Balbi, and “Synesthésie” (2011). The composer writes, “”Perú Negro” and “América Salvaje” are firmly rooted in Peruvian folk music, making use of its instruments, rhythms and melodies. “Lord of the Air,” although inspired by the Andean condor, roams free from those musical attachments and constitutes a more direct look into my own harmonic and melodic language. “Synesthésie,” on the other hand, is an exercise in creativity inspired by the human senses and the subtle artistry of the French masters of orchestration.” In a review of the forthcoming release (http://buffalo.com/2015/06/21/news/music/disc-reviews/listening-post-brief-reviews-of-select-releases-17/?utm_source=01-14-09_Contacts&utm_campaign=901cbecefb-Jimmy+Lopez&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1497688fe3-901cbecefb-59975090) of the recording, Jeff Simon of Buffalo News says, “López’s music is full of drama, broad musical strokes and craggy energy.”

Mr. Harth-Bedoya commissioned “Perú Negro” (2012) for the 2012-2013 centennial season of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He also recorded a previous disc of López’s music with the FWSO and continues to champion Mr. López’s music around the world, having conducted the composer’s works nine times in 2014, six times in 2013, and will conduct his works two more times in the upcoming 2015-2016 season.  Additionally, Mr. Harth-Bedoya brought Jimmy López’s music to the attention of soprano Renée Fleming, who ultimately selected Mr. López to compose Bel Canto for the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The collaboration between Miguel Harth-Bedoya and composer Jimmy López began when the conductor met the composer as a teenager while conducting the Lima Philharmonic Orchestra in Peru.  The conductor says, “I have enjoyed watching Jimmy López develop from a young talent into a mature and versatile composer.  I admire his wide aesthetic range, which can tap into folk songs and culture in a work like “Perú Negro,” or could be completely abstract in a piece like “Synesthésie.”  Jimmy's scope is reflective of one who has lived, worked, and traveled in many countries but also remains connected to his own cultural roots. His potential is unlimited.”

To view a brief video about the new recording, visit: https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01aa0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01a90001","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01aa0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01a90000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01aa0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01a90001","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01aa0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw?utm_source=01-14-09_Contacts&utm_campaign=901cbecefb-Jimmy+Lopez&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1497688fe3-901cbecefb-59975090">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01aa0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01a90001","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01aa0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01a90000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01aa0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01a90001","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw","_id":"0000017a-3a2f-d913-abfe-bf6f01aa0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/1yYxBEhyzdw?utm_source=01-14-09_Contacts&utm_campaign=901cbecefb-Jimmy+Lopez&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1497688fe3-901cbecefb-59975090

Jimmy López’s Bel Canto to Premiere at Lyric Opera of Chicago in December 2015 Ann Patchett's best-selling novel Bel Canto took the literary world by storm — now, in a new work curated by the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s creative consultant, Renée Fleming, this riveting story inspired by a real-life event becomes a powerful opera, opening on December 7, 2015. Jimmy López sets the libretto of Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban-American playwright Nilo Cruz in the opera directed by Kevin Newbury and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Renowned soprano Danielle de Niese stars as superstar American diva Roxane Coss.

The opera will be sung in Spanish, English, Japanese, Russian, German, French, Latin and Quechua, with projected English titles.  Bel Canto is only the seventh mainstage world premiere in the company’s history, and the first world premiere presented by the Lyric Opera since 2004.  “Every major, world-class opera company needs to embrace enthusiastically its responsibility for the continuation of the repertoire,” says Lyric Opera General Director Anthony Freud.

Bel Canto opens on December 7 and runs through January 17, 2016. For more information, visit The Lyric Opera Chicago (https://www.lyricopera.org/concertstickets/calendar/2015-2016/productions/lyricopera/bel-canto?utm_source=01-14-09_Contacts&utm_campaign=901cbecefb-Jimmy+Lopez&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1497688fe3-901cbecefb-59975090) .

About Jimmy López

Jimmy López was born in Lima, Peru in 1978. From 1998 until 2000 he studied with Enrique Iturriaga at the National Conservatory of Music in Lima. From 2000 till 2007 he studied with Veli-Matti Puumala and Eero Hämeenniemi at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, from where he obtained his Master of Music Degree in 2007. Mr. López completed his Ph.D. in Music at the University of California-Berkeley in May 2012, where he worked with Professor Edmund Campion.

His works have been performed by ensembles such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Symphony Orchestra of Chile and the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru, among others; and in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Darmstadt Music Festival, Donaueschingen Music Festival and the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

He has been awarded numerous prizes: Special Mention for "Viaje a ti" at the 2015 Casa de las Américas Composition Prize (Cuba); 2014 Premio Antara from the Lima Conemporary Music Festival (Peru); 2013 Prince Prize from the Prince Charitable Trusts for Bel Canto; First Prize - 2012 Nicola de Lorenzo Music Composition Contest for "Synesthésie"; First Prize - 2011 Nicola de Lorenzo Music Composition Contest for "15 Études for String Octet"; 2009 Georges Ladd Prix de Paris (UC Berkeley), Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the '2008 Darmstadt International Course for Contemporary Music' (Germany); 2008 Morton Gould Young Composer Award (New York) for his concertino for piano, strings, brass and percussion titled "Epiphany"; Second Prize - 2008 Nicola de Lorenzo Music Composition Contest (UC Berkeley) for "Epiphany"; Orchestra Composition Award - SävellYS 2006 Composition Competition (Finland) for his orchestral work "The Plea"; Stipendienpreis at the International Course for Contemporary Music, Darmstadt 2006 (Germany) for his chamber work "Kraftmaschine"; First Prize - ALEA III 2003 International Composition Competition (Boston, US) for his piece "K’asa" for violin and piano; and the Orchestra Prize - CCA International Composition Competition 2002 (Taiwan) for his orchestral work "Carnynx".

His Cello Concerto "Lord of the Air", was premiered by Jesús Castro-Balbi, solo cello, and the TCU Symphony Orchestra conducted by Germán Gutiérrez on March 7, 2013. On that same date, his solo piano piece "Ccantu", received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall by Priscila Navarro. Recent premieres include "Perú Negro", written for Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Centennial Season of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and "Warped Symmetry", for solo flute, premiered by Sami Junnonen during the Hanko Music Festival in Finland.

Upcoming projects include performances with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Ensemble Dal Niente. Jimmy López is published by Filarmonika Music Publishing.