Alcides Lanza

Alcides Emigdio Lanza (born 2 June 1929) is a Cana- In 1965 Alcides Lanza purchased several Super Balls as
dian composer, conductor, pianist, and music educator toys for his son and soon experimented with the sounds
of Argentinian birth. He became a naturalized Canadian they made when rubbed along the frame or strings of a
citizen in 1976. As both a composer and performer he piano. Lanza, in his composition Plectros III (1971), said
is known as an exponent of contemporary classical music the performer should use a pair of Super Balls on sticks as
and avant-garde music. His works often utilize a com- mallets with which to strike and rub the strings and case
bination of traditional and unusual instruments, and in- of a piano.[3]
corporate electronic sounds and extensions. He is also In 1972 Lanza became the director of the Société de
known for using special lighting effects when presenting musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ), remaining
his music. Many of his compositions are published by in that role for only a short time. The SMCQ later com-
Boosey & Hawkes, and Lanza himself owns his own pub- missioned him to write Plectros IV which was premiered
lishing company, Shelan Editions. He is an associate of in 1975 by Bruce Mather and Pierrette LePage. In 1972-
the Canadian Music Centre, a member of the Canadian 1973 he was composer-in-residence at the German Aca-
League of Composers.,[1] and an Honorary Member of demic Exchange Service in Berlin and he gave recital
the Canadian Electroacoustic Community. tours in Scandinavia and Germany. He went on to found
the Composers/Performers Group, an organization who
has garnered much controversy among critics for their
1 Education multimedia presentations in cities like New York City and
Montreal. In 1986 he toured Argentina and Brazil with
Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Lanza received his initial mu- his wife, actress and
[1]
singer Meg Sheppard, in concerts of
sical training in Buenos Aires where he was a pupil of Canadian music.
Julián Bautista (music composition), Ruwin Erlich (pi-
ano), Alberto Ginastera (composition), and Roberto Kin-
sky (conducting). He received a scholarship from the 3 References
Torcuato di Tella Institute in 1963-1964 which enabled
him to pursue advanced studies in music composition and [1] Gilles Potvin. “Alcides Lanza”. The Canadian Encyclo-
electronic music. He received further grants from the pedia.
Ford Foundation (1966) and the Pan American Union
[2] Colin Eatock. “John Burke”. The Canadian Encyclope-
(1967–1969) and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellow- dia.
ship (1965). All of these enabled him to pursue fur-
ther training in the United States with such teachers as [3] Jones, Pamela (November 2007). Alcides Lanza: Portrait
Olivier Messiaen, Riccardo Malipiero, Aaron Copland, of a Composer. McGill-Queen’s University Press. p. 131.
Bruno Maderna, and Yvonne Loriod.[1] ISBN 0-7735-3264-1.

2 Career 4 External links

• McGill home page
From 1959-1965, Lanza was a pianist and vocal coach at
the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. He also served as the • Blog on Blogspot
President of Agrupacion Música Viva during that time.
While studying in the United States during the late 1960s
he worked at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music
Center with Vladimir Ussachevsky. In 1971 he moved to
Canada, joining the music faculty of McGill University
in the city of Montreal. Since 1974 he has been director
of that school’s electronic music program.[1] Among his
notable pupils are composers Peter Allen, Eli-Eri Moura,
and John Burke.[2] See: List of music students by teacher:
K to M#Alcides Lanza.

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2 5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

5 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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