(b. 1962, Caracas).
Venezuelan composer of mostly orchestral, chamber, vocal, and piano works that have been performed in Asia, Europe and North America.
Prof. Arismendi studied harmony, music theory and piano as a child, including with Inocente Carreño at the Escuela Prudencio Esaá in Caracas, then began studies in composition with at age 16, including in electroacoustic music with Eduardo Kusnir and in composition with Antonio Mastrogiovanni at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música Juan José Landaeta in Caracas. She then studied composition with Yoshihisa Taira, among other subjects, at the Éole Normale de Musique de Paris from 1982–86, on a scholarship from the government of Venezuela, where she earned a diplôme in composition, a diplôme in fin d'études, a premier prix in analysis, and the diplôme supérieur in composition. She later studied composition with Helmut Braunlich at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C. from 1990–94 and there earned her MMus and DMA in composition and Latin-American music, on a scholarship from the Academic Scholarship Program of the Organization of American States.
Her music has been performed in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, the USA, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
She is also active in other positions. She worked in electronic music at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris in 1984–85. She has served as executive director of the Festival de Música Latinoamericana in Caracas since 1996. She has served on the board of directors of the Sociedad Venezolana de Música Contemporánea in Caracas since 1999 and served as its vice-president from 2001–04. She hosted and produced the radio programme Clásicas Contemporáneas de América Latina for the Emisora Cultural de Caracas in 2013 and later created and hosted the programmes Encuentro con Maestros de Música and Hablamos sobre la Música de Nuestros Tiempos at Trasnocho Cultural in Caracas from 2019–21. As a researcher, she has presented on Latin-Americn music in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Spain, the UK, and the USA, and has contributed to various publications.
She taught analysis, counterpoint, harmony, musical language, musical texture, and orchestration at the conservatory of El Sistema in Caracas from 1986–90. She has taught composition at the Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas since 1994, where she has been Profesora Titular since 2006 and where she served as Coordinadora de la Maestría en Música from 2000–04 and in 2006–07. Also at the Universidad Simón Bolívar she was head of the Departamento de Ciencias Sociales from 2007–09 and later served as director of culture from 2014–21. In addition, she has taught at the school of composition of El Sistema in Caracas since 2021 and has hosted the monthly event COMPONIENDO at the headquarters of the Centro Nacional de Acción Social por la Música in Caracas since 2023.
She is married to the composer–conductor Alfredo Rugeles.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
El Gato y la Golondrina, una historia de amor (ópera de cámara, libretto by the composer, after Jorge Amado), Op. 23, 1992–93
ORCHESTRAL:
Mural-Circular, small orchestra (18 players), Op. 9, 1986
Dínago, un éxodo imaginario, large orchestra, Op. 12, 1988
Inerrantes (concertino), marimba, small orchestra, Op. 25, 1994
Cantos de sur y norte, large orchestra, Op. 43, 2006–07
Afflatus (concierto), clarinet, large orchestra, Op. 45, 2009
Epíclesis del espíritu (concertino), piano, orchestra, Op. 54, 2013
Caracas nuestra de cada día (por el 450 aniversario de la ciudad de Caracas), large orchestra, Op. 56, 2017
Lamentaciones, symphonic band, Op. 57, 2018
Camino de lumbres, large orchestra, Op. 66, 2024
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Guimel, string quartet, Op. 5, 1984
Alp, double bass, Op. 6, 1985
Ciento cincuenta días, 4 percussion, Op. 10, 1987
Tres noches sin luna, clarinet, Op. 11, 1987
Irreverencias, oboe, fixed media (2 tracks), Op. 13, 1988
Dueto, vibraphone, marimba, Op. 14, 1989
Dos Espacios, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, Op. 16, 1989–90
Dúo, bassoon, piano, Op. 19, 1991
Solar, marimba, Op. 21, 1992
Las Aguas lustrales, string quartet, Op. 24, 1993
Cantos II, flute, Op. 26, 1995
Clamores, 2 pianos, 2 percussion, Op. 28, 1997
Tres Hexagramas, flute, guitar, Op. 30, 1998 (also versions for piano, vibraphone; flute, vibraphone; oboe, piano)
Blanco, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, Op. 31, 1998
Cantos III, flute, harp, Op. 32, 1999
Casas, 4 percussion, Op. 33, 1999
Suite, cello, Op. 36, 2003
Cantos IV, French horn, Op. 38, 2003–04, revised 2024
Tres Romanzas, alto saxophone, Op. 40, 2005
Cuerpos reflejados, marimba, 4 percussion, Op. 41, 2005
They claim, double bass, Op. 46, 2010
Solstitium, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, Op. 49, 2011
Cantos VI (Segundo cuarteto de cuerdas), string quartet, Op. 53, 2013
Élegos, cello, piano, Op. 59, 2019 (also version for double bass, piano, Op. 59.1, 2025)
Cuarteto del sur, flute, oboe, clarinet, cello, Op. 60, 2020
Dos miniaturas griegas, cello, Op. 62, 2020
Floresta (concertino), flute, ensemble (oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass), Op. 63, 2022
Stella cællis, cello, Op. 64, 2022
CHORAL:
Rituel (vocalise), mixed chorus, 8 brass, Op. 7, 1985
Díptico (texts by Juana Inés de la Cruz, Octavio Paz), mixed chorus, Op. 18, 1991
Ejercicios Espirituales (texts by Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, Eugenio Montejo), mixed chorus, large orchestra, Op. 42, 2005
Paz (texts by Manuel Felipe Rugeles, Nelson Mandela, the Beatitudes of St. Matthew [Spanish translation]), mixed chorus, organ, Op. 52, 2012
VOCAL:
De Visiones (text by the composer), voice, clarinet, double bass, vibraphone, Op. 1, 1980
Imágenes (text from the I Ching [Spanish translation]), male speaker, piano, percussion, Op. 4, 1984
Paraíso perdido (text by Rafael Alberti), mezzo-soprano, piano, Op. 15, 1989
Ficciones (text by Jorge Luis Borges), mezzo-soprano, large orchestra, Op. 17, 1990–91
Serus (text by Mario Vargas Llosa), soprano, alto flute, guitar, double bass, percussion, Op. 22, 1992
Fiestas solemnes (texts from Latin liturgy, the Mass, the Book of Psalms), soprano, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, Op. 27, 1996
Escenas de la Pasión según San Marcos (text from the Book of Mark [Spanish translation]), male speaker, large orchestra, Op. 35, 2000
Epigramas (text by Juana Rosa Pita), female voice, guitar, percussion, Op. 39, 2004
Stabat Mater (text from the Stabat Mater [also Spanish translation]), soprano, 2 recorders, viola da gamba, harpsichord, fixed media (2 tracks), Op. 44, 2009
Salmos (text from the Book of Psalms [Spanish translation]), soprano, piano, Op. 47, 2010
Himno a la Virgen de la Candelaria (text by Ada Pérez Jones, adapted by the composer), female voice, piano, Op. 48, 2011
In Memoriam (texts by Anne Frank [Spanish translation], the Book of Psalms [Spanish translation], Gabriela Mistral, Beatriz Iriart, the composer, the phrase "¿Dios mío, Dios mío, por qué me has abandonado?" [French, Italian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Polish, Dutch, German translations]), soprano, male speaker, large orchestra, Op. 55, 2014
Yo me vine al silencio (text by Beatriz García), soprano, cello, Op. 58, 2019
¿Y Caracas? (text by Gabriela Kizer), female voice, Op. 65, 2023
PIANO:
Taïra, piano 4 hands, Op. 3, 1983
Cantos I, Op. 20, 1992
Aves mías, Op. 29, 1997
Señales en el cielo, Op. 34, 2000
Für Elena, Op. 37, 2003
Tres invenciones a dos voces, Op. 50, 2011
Tres miniaturas para piano solo, Op. 61, 2020 (each of its three sections may be performed separately: 52/53; 80/81; 99/100)
ORGAN:
Tres revelaciones, Op. 51, 2012
ELECTROACOUSTIC:
Parábolas, fixed media (2 tracks), Op. 2, 1981
A nadie, fixed media (2 tracks), Op. 8, 1985