Roberto Sierra

Updated 6/8/2016 by EBW 

Composer, Professor of Composition, Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities. Came to prominence in 1987, when his first major orchestral composition, Júbilo, was performed at Carnegie Hall by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Major commissions and performances include: the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and Phoenix Symphony, as well as by the American Composers Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra (Zurich), National Orchestra of Barcelona, Symphony Orchestra of Galicia, the Kronos Quartet, Continuum, Germany’s Radio Orchestras from Saarland and Frankfurt, England’s BBC Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and at Wolf Trap, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Festival Casals, France’s Festival de Lille, and others.  

Roberto Sierra has been Composer-in-Residence with the Milwaukee Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, New Mexico Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 2003 he was awarded the Academy Award in Music by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The award states: “Roberto Sierra writes brilliant music, mixing fresh and personal melodic lines with sparkling harmonies and striking rhythms. . .” Recent recordings include the highly acclaimed Missa Latina for the Naxos label.