(b. 1949, Puerto Plata – d. 9 February 2023, Santo Domingo).

Dominican composer of mostly orchestral, chamber and piano works that have been performed in the Americas.

Prof. Silfa Finke studied at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Santo Domingo, where she graduated with highest honours from the piano class of Ramón Díaz in 1978 and the composition class of Manuel Simó in 1980.

Among her honours were the national prize for music José Reyes from the government of the Dominican Republic (1992–93, for Campanas de la tarde [second version]) and the prize Casandra as composer of the year from the Asociación Dominicana de Cronistas de Arte (1993). Her music has been performed in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, the USA, and Venezuela.

She was also active in other positions. She represented the Dominican Republic at both the Festival Latinoamericano de la Música in Venezuela and the Foro de Compositores del Caribe in numerous countries. She served as president of the Consejo Dominicano de la Música, a member of the UNESCO International Music Council, from 1998–2023. In addition, she performed as the pianist of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de la República Dominicana from 1984–2023 and worked as its programming coordinator from 1984–94.

She taught as Profesora de Piano at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música from 1971–2023, where she also taught composition from 2000–23.

SELECT LIST OF WORKS

ORCHESTRAL:

Preludio y Toccata, small orchestra, 1976

Aspectos (suite), large orchestra, 1980

Canción, oboe, orchestra, 1987

Campanas de la tarde (symphonic poem), 1992 (version of choral work)

CHAMBER MUSIC:

Canon, clarinet, bassoon, 1974

Ráfagas, string quartet, 1974

Poema, violin, piano, 1976

Te traje una flor, 4 percussion, 1984

Canción sin Palabras, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, 1996

Canción, flute, piano, 2001

CHORAL:

Campanas de la tarde (text by Federico Bermúdez), mixed chorus, 1980 (also version [symphonic poem] for orchestra)

VOCAL:

Meciendo (text by Gabriela Mistral), soprano, piano, 1973

La Fuente (text by Porfirio Herrera), soprano, piano, 1976

PIANO:

Canción sin Palabras No. 1, 1973

Canción sin Palabras No. 2, 1973

Estudio, 1974

Preludio–Interludio–Postludio, 1974

Preludio No. 1, 1974

Canción sin Palabras No. 3, 1978

Preludio para piano, 1978

Nocturno, 1980

Sorpresa No. 1, 1984