Angélica Negrón
Brooklyn-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1981. Creating intricately simple narratives—as evocative as they are intangible—she writes music for accordions, toys, and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles and orchestras. Her music has been described as “wistfully idiosyncratic and contemplative” (WQXR/Q2) and “mesmerizing and affecting” (Feast of Music), while The New York Times noted her “capacity to surprise” and her “quirky approach to scoring”. She was selected by Q2 and NPR listeners as part of “The Mix: 100 Composers Under 40”, by Flavorpill as one of the “10 Young Female Composers You Should Know,” and by Paste Magazine as one of the “20 Most Innovative Musicians Working Today.”
Angélica received early instruction in piano and violin at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, where she went on to complete undergraduate studies in composition under the guidance of composer Alfonso Fuentes. She holds a master’s degree in music composition from New York University, where she studied with Pedro da Silva, and pursued doctoral studies at The Graduate Center (CUNY), studying composition under the mentorship of Tania León.
Angélica has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Kronos Quartet, loadbang, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Prototype Festival, MATA Festival, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Sō Percussion, San Francisco Girls Chorus, National Symphony Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Yale Glee Club, the American Composers Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic, and the New York Botanical Garden, among others. Her music has been performed at the Kennedy Center, the Ecstatic Music Festival, EMPAC, Bang on a Can Marathon, WNYC’s Greene Space and the 2016 New York Philharmonic Biennial and has scored several films screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. She has collaborated with artists like Sō Percussion, Lido Pimienta, Mathew Placek, Sasha Velour, Cecilia Aldarondo, Mariela Pabón, Adrienne Westwood, Tiffany Mills. Her music has been performed by TRANSIT Ensemble, Choral Chameleon, janus trio, Cadillac Moon Ensemble, The Knights, Downtown Voices, Cantori NY, Face the Music, NOVUS NY, Eight Blackbird, Iktus Percussion Quartet, ETHEL, Recap, NYU Symphony Orchestra, Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra and the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has written music for documentaries, films, theater, and modern dance. She has contributed as a writer to the International Alliance of Women in Music Journal and the British magazine The Wire and has been featured as an Ableton artist. She was a composer fellow at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival 2011 and was the 2014-2015 Van Lier Fellow at American Composers Orchestra.
Also active as an educator, Angélica is currently a teaching artist for New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program and, along with Noraliz Ruiz, co-founded Acopladitos, a Spanish immersion music program for young children. She also frequently collaborates with the experimental theater company from Puerto Rico Y No Había Luz writing music for their plays, which often incorporate puppets, masks and unusual objects. A long time member of the Puerto Rican underground music scene, Angélica is a founding member of the tropical electronic indie band Balún where she sings and plays the accordion.
Angélica was an artist in residency at National Sawdust for their 2018-2019 season, where she focused on Chimera, a lip sync opera for drag performers and chamber ensemble exploring ideas of fantasy, illusion, and the intricacies and complexities of identity. As the first composer-in-residence at the New York Botanical Garden, she composed an immersive work for electronic soundscape and 100 voice chorus performed in the Thain Family Forest. Upcoming premieres include works for the Seattle Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra and NY Philharmonic Project 19 initiative, and multiple performances at Big Ears Festival 2022.