(b. 1964, Bogotá).

Austrian composer, born in Colombia, of mostly orchestral, chamber and electroacoustic works that have been performed in the Americas and Europe.

Mr. Toro Pérez studied guitar privately with Carlos Ramírez from 1974–78, piano with Sergio Mesa from 1983–85 and composition with Luis Torres Zuleta from 1984–85, all in Bogotá, and studied music theory at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá from 1981–84. He studied composition with Erich Urbanner at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna from 1986–92 and also studied electroacoustic music there.

Among his honours are Erster Preis in the Tage der zeitgenössischen Klaviermusik in Vienna (1996, for Arco), Primer Premio in the Concurso Nacional de Música Electroacústica in Bogotá (1997, for Estudio de ruidos y campanas), a mention in the Concours International de Musique Électroacoustique de Bourges (1998, for Estudio de ruidos y campanas), the Staatsstipendium in composition from the government of Austria (1997), the Anerkennungspreis from the government of Niederösterreich (1999), and the Erste Bank Kompositionspreis in Vienna (2001, for Stadtplan von New York – Music after Adolf Wölfli). His music has been performed in Argentina, Austria, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, and the USA.

He is also active in other positions. He co-founded with Johannes Kretz and Jorge Sánchez-Chiong the NewTonEnsemble for contemporary music in Vienna in 1996 and later served as its co-artistic director.

He taught at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna from 1999–2007, where he served as director of the course on computer music from 2002–07. He has lectured on electroacoustic composition at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zürich since 2007, where he has served as director of the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology since 2007. He lectured at the Ferienkurse in Darmstadt in 2012.

He has lived in Austria since 1986.

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

ORCHESTRAL:

Earth, Light and Blue, Homenaje a Mark Rothko, string orchestra, 1990–91

Azogue, orchestra in 2 groups, 1992

Rothko III, large orchestra, 2000–01

Stadtplan von New York – Music after Adolf Wölfli, small orchestra (15 players), 2001

Untitled 2002² – Music for 17 Wind Instruments, Accordion and Percussion, small orchestra (20 players), 2002

CHAMBER MUSIC:

Seis Fragmentos, flute, 1990

Rastro, clarinet, 1992

...en continuo movimiento..., flute (+ alto flute), piano, 1994

Musique de Saxophone, 4 saxophones, 1994

Stichworte, bass clarinet, live electronics, 1996

Ficciones, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), ensemble (clarinet [+ bass clarinet], alto saxophone [+ tenor saxophone], trombone, 2 guitars, violin, viola, cello, percussion), fixed media (2 tracks), 1996–97

Memorial, flute, clarinet, trumpet, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, percussion, 1998

Inventario III, harp, 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos, piano, percussion, fixed media (2 tracks), 1999

Rothko II, flute (+ piccolo, bass flute), oboe (+ English horn), clarinet, bass clarinet (+ contrabass clarinet), alto saxophone (+ tenor saxophone), trumpet, live electronics, 2000, revised 2002

Nuper rosarum flores, 2 clarinets, alto saxophone, bassoon, accordion, live electronics ad libitum, 2000

Five Studies after Italo Calvino, flute, bass clarinet, piano, 2001

Untitled 2002¹ – Music for a Youth Ensemble, flute, clarinet, 2 violins, cello, prepared upright piano, piano 4 hands, 2002

Rulfo/voces – Cuatro Estudios según Juan Rulfo, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 2003

CHORAL:

Tambores del Magdalena (text from a folksong from Colombia), mixed chorus, 1985

Drama em Gente (text by Fernando Pessoa), soprano, 5 male voices, small orchestra (15 players), 1992–93

VOCAL:

La Luna (text by Jorge Luis Borges), soprano, piano, 1987

Domus Dædali (text by Jorge Luis Borges), soprano, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), harp, violin, viola, cello, marimba (+ xylophone), 1997

PIANO:

Arco, 2 quarter-tone pianos, 1995

Inventario II, piano, fixed media (2 tracks), 1998–99

ELECTROACOUSTIC:

Vocal 1 (text by the composer), fixed media (2 tracks), 1990

Estudio de ruidos y campanas, fixed media (8 tracks), 1995

Aire, fixed media (2 tracks), 1997–98

Inventario I, fixed media (2 tracks), 1999, revised 2003

MULTIMEDIA/PERFORMANCE:

Zwölf akustisch-visuelle Fragmente aus einer experimentellen Animation, fixed media (2 tracks), computer animation (by Walter Bohatsch, Andreas Niederer), film projector, 1999

Ulixes/Kassandra – Macht und Ohnmacht der Sprache, 2 percussion, 2 slide projectors (slides by Lisa Kunit), 2000