Miguel Chuaqui, Composition Area Chair

Ph.D. in Music - University of California at Berkeley
M.A. in Music - University of California at Berkeley
B.A. in Mathematics and Music (with distinction) - University of California at Berkeley

The Chilean-American composer Miguel Chuaqui was born in Berkeley, California, and he grew up in Chile. His musical education began in Santiago, at the Escuela Moderna de Música, and continued later at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. In 1984 he moved back to California, and, after finishing college in 1987, he went on to pursue graduate studies in composition under the guidance of Mr. Andrew Imbrie at the University of California at Berkeley (M.A. 1989, Ph.D., 1994). He has also studied with John Thow and Edwin Dugger, and he was an associate composer at CNMAT (Center for New Music and Audio Technologies) (1994-96).

Professor Chuaqui’s music includes orchestral, chamber, vocal, and electro-acoustic works. He has received commissions from the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, the Koussevitzky Foundation at the Library of Congress, the Utah Arts Council (NEA), Meet the Composer, and from ensembles such as Earplay (San Francisco), Parnassus (New York), Ensamble Bartok (Santiago), and several other music organizations. His music is recorded on New World Records, Albany Records and Centaur Records. It has been performed in the U.S. and abroad by ensembles such as Parnassus, Speculum Musicae, Earplay, Abramyan String Quartet, Left Coast Ensemble, Empyrean Ensemble, Octagon, New York's Riverside Symphony, Canyonlands Ensemble, and the Chilean ensembles Bartok and ANCC (Asociación Nacional de Compositores de Chile). Honors include an Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, an Aaron Copland Recording Grant, the Eisner Prize, a Nicola de Lorenzo Award, and induction into the National Association of Composers of Chile.

Professor Chuaqui's research interests include collaborations with colleagues in areas as diverse as Modern Dance (interactive dance systems) and the School of Medicine (interactive software development for therapeutic musical applications). He is currently on the faculty of the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, where he teaches composition, electro-acoustic composition, and music theory. Professor Chuaqui serves as Chair of the Composition Area.

Selected Recordings