(b. 9 July 1954, San Salvador).
Salvadoran composer of mostly orchestral, chamber, vocal, and piano works that have been performed throughout the Americas and in Europe; he is also active as a conductor.
Mr. Cáceres studied counterpoint, harmony and musical forms privately with Esteban Servellón from 1969–71 and Ion Cubicec from 1971–73. He studied chamber music and oboe with Ronald Roseman and composition with David Diamond and Stanley Wolfe at the Juilliard School in New York, New York from 1973–78, where he earned both his BMus and MMus. He also studied composition privately with Julián Orbón and conducting privately with José Serebrier, both in New York, New York, as well as conducting privately with Ricardo del Carmen in 1978–79 and Alejandro Muñoz Ciudad Real in 1979–80. He later studied composition with Jonathan D. Kramer at the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music from 1987–89 and there earned his DMA. He later received a doctorate honoris causa from the Universidad Nueva San Salvador in 2019.
Among his honours are the Guggenheim Fellowship (1981), the Premio Nacional de Cultura in El Salvador (1982), the Internationaler Gertrud-Ramdohr-Preis in Hamburg (1986), the Fulbright Foundation Fellowship (1987–89), the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (1991), the Premio XX Siglo at the Tribuna de la Música Latinoamericana in Rosario, Argentina (1997, for Fantasía sobre una Cadencia de Gesualdo), the Premio en la Rama de Música from the Unión de Artistas y Escritores Salvadoreños (1999), the Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (2008), the Creu de Sant Jordi de Casal Catalá de El Salvador (2013), and the Cruz de Santiago from the Centro Español de El Salvador (2014). In addition, he served as honorary president of the festival for strings in Gosau, Austria (1987) and represented El Salvador at the Foro Interamericano de Directores de Orquesta in Caracas (1988). He was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France (1992), a Compositor Meritísimo by the Asamblea Legislativa of El Salvador (1999) and an artist of the Ordem de Rio Branco by the government of Brazil (1999). He is a member of the Ateneo de El Salvador, the Centro Cultural Salvadoreño, the Colegio de Compositores Latinoamericanos de Música de Arte in Mexico, the Fundación Julia Díaz, the Instituto Bolivariano, the Instituto Masferreriano, and the Instituto Sanmartiniano, as well as a corresponding member of the Academia de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala. His music has been performed in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay, the USA, and Venezuela. A portrait concert was given at California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles in 2001.
As a conductor, he served as conductor of the Orquesta de Cámara de El Salvador from 1979–83. He later served as music director and principal conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de El Salvador from 1985–99 and again served as its music director and principal conductor from 2002–19. He has guest-conducted ensembles and orchestras in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uruguay, the USA, and Venezuela.
He is also active in other positions. He founded the Festival de Música Contemporánea de El Salvador in 1996 and has served as its music director since 1996. He served as director of the programme Música del nuestro tiempo on Radio Clásica in El Salvador from 1997–99. He has written numerous articles about literature and music in Latin America and other topics.
He taught music history at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas in San Salvador from 1993–2003 and served as Director de Arte y Cultura at the Universidad de El Salvador in 2000–01. He has served as Director de Arte y Cultura at the Universidad Nueva San Salvador since 2022. He lectured at both California State University, Northridge and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 2001.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
Bálsamo (ballet, scenario by Dario Dossier), orchestra, 1978
El Cristo Negro (opera in 3 acts, libretto by Hugo Lindo), 1998
ORCHESTRAL:
Yulcuicat (suite), 1973
Concierto, harp, orchestra, 1977
Concierto para Cuerdas, string orchestra, 1979
Concierto, piano, orchestra, 1981
Sinfonía, 1983
Concierto, small orchestra (12 winds, 11 brass), 1988
Diferencias, 1988
Concierto, violin, orchestra, 1989
Deploración (in memoriam Julián Orbón), 1993
Fanfarria a San Salvador, 12 brass, 1996
Tiento I, small orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, strings), 1996
Concierto No. 1, guitar, orchestra, 2000
Tiento VII, string orchestra, 2000
Concierto No. 2, guitar, string orchestra, 2001
Concierto No. 3, guitar, orchestra, 2001
Doble Concierto, violin, cello, orchestra, 2001
Lacónicas II, 2002
Fantasía sobre una Cadencia de Vivaldi, string orchestra, 2005
Concierto, cello, orchestra, 2008
Septem, 2009
Concierto, oboe, orchestra, 2012
Tiento XIII, cello, orchestra, 2013
Tiento XIV, violin, orchestra, 2015
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Cuarteto para cuerdas No. 1, string quartet, 1974
Cuarteto para cuerdas No. 2, string quartet, 1976
Concierto de Cámara No. 1, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, piano, 1979
Sonata No. 1, violin, piano, 1980
Concierto, viola, ensemble (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass), 1980
Sonatina, guitar, 1981
Sonata, viola, piano, 1982
Sonata, oboe, cello, piano, 1983
Tres Piezas, bass clarinet, harp, vibraphone, 1987
Cinco Deploraciones, flute, 1988
Cuatro Piezas, flute, bassoon, 1988
Sonata No. 2, violin, piano, 1988
Concierto de Cámara No. 2, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 1990
Trío, violin, cello, piano, 1991
Partitas, flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, cello, piano/harpsichord, 1992
Cuatro Piezas, violin, 1993
Concierto de Cámara No. 3, 2 violins, cello, harpsichord, 1994
Fantasía sobre una Cadencia de Gesualdo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 1994
Cuarteto para cuerdas No. 3, string quartet, 1996
Tiento II, clarinet, 1997
Tiento III, cello, 1997
Ocho Variaciones sobre un Conjunto de Ocho Notas, guitar, 1997
Cantus, flute, 1997
Tiento IV, violin, 1999
Tiento V, oboe, 2000
Tiento VIII, guitar, 2001
Tiento IX, violin, cello, piano, 2003
Tiento X, flute, piano, 2003
Tres Piezas, violin, 2 percussion, 2003
Tiento XI, clarinet, piano, 2007
Planctum I y II, guitar, 2008
Quinteto, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 2009
Tiento XII, marimba, 2010
Nenia y Exodium, violin, 2015
Clíticos, guitar, percussion, 2015
Cuarteto para cuerdas No. 4, string quartet, 2016
Cuarteto para cuerdas No. 5, string quartet, 2019
Dos Reflexiones sobre el Silencio, cello, 2020
Cuarteto para cuerdas No. 6, string quartet, 2020
Lacónicas III, double bass, 2022
Lacónicas IV, violin, 2023
Lacónicas V, cello, 2024
CHORAL:
Tres Cantos (text by Hugo Lindo), mixed chorus, 1981
Cantata (text by Cristóbal Humberto Ibarra), mixed chorus, orchestra, 1992
Villancico del Calendario (text by Álvaro Menéndez Leal), mixed chorus, 1996
VOCAL:
Tres Canciones (text by Arnaldo Sepúlveda), soprano, string quartet, 1975
Estáncias (text by Francisco Gavidia), soprano, orchestra, 1979
Tres Canciones Epigramáticas (text by Ernesto Cardenal), soprano, piano, 1979
Cuatro Cantos (text by Álvaro Menéndez Leal), soprano, piano, 1981
Premisas (cantata, text by Arnaldo Sepúlveda), soprano, string quartet, 1982
Cantos de Fácil Palabra (text by Hugo Lindo), soprano, flute, harpsichord, 1985
Tres Canciones (texts by Lucius Annæus Seneca, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Pedro Geoffroy Rivas), soprano, orchestra, 1988
Cantos (texts by Gracilazo de la Vega, Garci Sánchez de Badajoz), soprano, orchestra, 1990
Tres Canciones (text by Francisco Morales Eró), soprano, piano, 1995
El Señor de la Casa del Tiempo (text by Ricardo Lindo Fuentes), soprano, piano, 1996
Lo que dice el Caracol (text by Salarrué), soprano, orchestra, 1997
Siete Canciones (text by Mariana Sansón Argüello), soprano, piano, 1999
Cuatro Canciones (text by Rafael Rodríguez Díaz), soprano, piano, 1999
Las Monedas bajo la Lluvia (text by Ricardo Lindo Fuentes), female voice, guitar, 1999
Llama y Espina (3 sonnets, text by María Cristina Orantes), soprano, piano, 2004
Cartas Interdimensionales (3 songs, text by Juana Rosa Pita), mezzo-soprano, piano, 2004
Yo tengo que decir mi palabra (text by Elisa Huezo Paredes), mezzo-soprano, piano, 2004
Elegía de Junio (text by Cristóbal Humberto Ibarra), mezzo-soprano, piano, 2005
Loa del Hombre (text by Hugo Lindo), mezzo-soprano, male speaker, orchestra, 2005
Vigilia Memorable (text by David Escobar Galindo), mezzo-soprano, orchestra, 2009
Ofertorio (text by Ricardo Lindo Fuentes), mezzo-soprano, orchestra, 2011
Cantos Simbolistas (text by Albert Samain), mezzo-soprano, orchestra, 2011
De la Música (text by Hugo Lindo), mezzo-soprano, piano, 2014
Para enterrar a un Muerto (text by Pedro Geoffroy Rivas), mezzo-soprano, percussion, 1989–2016
Lo que habla, en el silencio de mi vida (text by Rubén Darío), mezzo-soprano, piano, 2017
Ceniza, lluvia, vino (in memoriam Ricardo Lindo Fuentes, text by Ricardo Lindo Fuentes), mezzo-soprano, harp, piano, timpani, marimba, percussion, 2017
La Muchachita Pálida (text by Alfredo Espino), mezzo-soprano, orchestra, 2019
Canciones del Silencio (text by Jorge Francisco Reyes), mezzo-soprano, violin, cello, piano, 2020
Más allá de lo Triste (text by Manuel Felipe Rugeles), soprano, orchestra, 2021
Canciones Místicas (text by Angelus Silesius [Spanish translation]), mezzo-soprano, cello, 2023
PIANO:
Sonata, 1984
Tres Estudios sobre el Silencio, 1989
Lacónicas I, 1993
Tiento VI, 2000
Tres Piezas, 2002
Octostylus, 2006