Diego Vega

Diego Vega is one of the most active and performed Colombian composers. His music has been performed in some of the most important concert halls in the United States, Europe and Latin America by ensembles such as the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Eighth Blackbird, Ensemble X, Alea III, the Colombian National Symphony, the Bogotá Philharmonic, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame de Paris, the Quintet of the Americas, the Soli Chamber Ensemble, and internationally acclaimed soloists like pianist Stephen Prutsman, clarinetist José Franch-Ballester, cellist Andrés Díaz, and flutist Bradley Garner, among others. Diego has written commissioned works for the Colombian National Symphony, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, the Cornell Symphony and the Cornell Chorus, and the Salvi Foundation and the Cartagena International Music Festival. Vega has also been awarded the National Prize of Music in Composition in 2004, the Ensemble X composition competition in 2004, Alea III 20th anniversary prize in 2002, one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the Year in 1996 in Colombia, and prestigious scholarships such as Fulbright and the Sage Fellowship at Cornell University.

Vega holds degrees from Cornell University (DMA), University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (MM), and Universidad Javeriana (BM) in Bogota, Colombia, and has been part of the theory and composition faculty at Syracuse University and Universidad Javeriana. Among his composition teachers are Guillermo Gaviria, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Joel Hoffman, Roberto Sierra and Steven Stucky.

Diego Vega has written music for soloists, a variety of chamber groups, symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, choral ensembles, computer and electronic music. He has incorporated elements of Colombian traditional music into some of these works.