Arturo Márquez

Márquez was born in Álamos, Sonora, in 1950 where his interest in music began. Márquez is the first born of nine children of Arturo Márquez and Aurora Navarro. Márquez was the only one of the nine siblings to become a musician. Márquez's father was a mariachi musician in Mexico and later in Los Angeles. His paternal grandfather was a Mexican folk musician in the northern states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Márquez's father and grandfather exposed him to several musical styles in his childhood, particularly Mexican "salon music" which would be the impetus for his later musical repertoire.

Márquez began composing at the age of 16 and attended the Mexican Music Conservatory, where he studied piano and music theory from 1970 to 1975. Márquez studied composition from 1976 to 1979 with Federico Ibarra, Joaquín Gutiérrez Heras, and Héctor Quintana.[1] In the U.S., he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and in 1990 obtained a MFA in composition from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.[1]

His music incorporates forms and styles of his native Mexico.[2] The Danzones are based on the music of and the Veracruz region of Mexico. Danzón No. 2 was included on the program of the Simon Bolívar Youth Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel on the 2007 tour of Europe and the United States. The composition has also opened the door for the discovery of other pieces by the composer that are increasingly being performed throughout the world and extensively in Latin America. His Danzones are increasingly being used for ballet productions throughout the world. Márquez is a popular composer among the Latin American public and is widely recognized as one of the most important Mexican composers of his generation.

Arturo Márquez lives with his family in Mexico City.

Source: wikipedia