Born in 1973 in Santurce, Puerto Rico to Cuban parents, composer Armando Bayolo began musical studies at the age of twelve. At sixteen he went on to study at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, where he first began the serious study of composition. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music (B.M. 1995), where his teachers were Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner and Christopher Rouse; Yale University (M.M. 1997), where he studied with Roberto Sierra, Jacob Druckman, Ingram Marshall and Martin Bresnick; and the University of Michigan D.M.A. 2001) where he studied with Michael Daugherty, Bright Sheng and Evan Chambers.

Mr. Bayolo's music, which the Washington Post hailed as radiant and ethereal, “full of lush ideas and a kind of fierce grandeur (which unfold) with subtle, driving power” and which the Charlotte Observer says “deserves to be played many more times and in many more places” encompasses a wide variety of genres including works for solo instruments, voices, chamber and orchestral music. Recent performances include the world premiere of Concerto a Due for guitar and violin by Duo 46 and Great Noise Ensemble in Washington, D.C.; Chamber Symphony, “Illusory Airs” at the by Great Noise Ensemble at the Capital Fringe Festival and the National Gallery of Art and by the Society for New Music in Syracuse, NY; A Kind of Standoff by The Percussion Plus Project at Depauw University, Colorfields by the Hamilton College Orchestra, Heather Buchman, conductor and Musica Concertata with violinist Jameson Cooper and Great Noise Ensemble at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in May, 2009. The 2009-10 season will see the premieres of Bayolo's Kaddish:Passio:Rothko at the National Gallery of Art by Great Noise Ensemble and the NGA's Vocal Arts Ensemble, Crudely Spun Tales by the alto saxophone and harp duo Pictures on Silence at the Music Center at Strathmore, Orfei Mors by cellist Phillip von Maltzahnn and the Western Piedmont Symphony Orchestra and the Syracuse Society for New Music as well as repeat performances of Concerto a Due with Duo 46 (Matt Gould, guitar, Beth-Ileana Schneider, violin) and Great Noise Ensemble.

Mr. Bayolo's recent commissions include A Kind of Standoff for piano and percussion for May Phang and The Percussion Plus Project; Colorfields for the Hamilton College Orchestra; Orfei Mors for Philip von Maltzahn, the Western Piedmont Symphony and the Syracuse Society for New Music; Kaddish:Passio:Rothko, for mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra for the Music Department of the National Gallery of Art; Crudely Spun Tales for Pictures on Silence; Mix Tape, for bassist Jeffrey Weisner; Sacred Cows, a cantata for soprano, baritone, three back-up singers and large ensemble for Great Noise Ensemble; a symphony for wind ensemble for a consortium led by the University of Oregon Wind Ensemble, Robert Ponto, Music Director; and a concerto for trombonist Philip Brown and the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra of Denmark.

Also active as a conductor, Mr. Bayolo is the founding Artistic Director and conductor of Great Noise Ensemble, which in just three seasons has become one of the most important forces in contemporary music in the Washington, D.C. region. He has led Great Noise in several world and regional premieres both by rising talents like Joel Puckett, D.J. Sparr and Ken Ueno and established masters like John Adams, Michael Daugherty and Steve Reich. He has also conducted the ensemble for the Prime Directive Series, a concert series he developed for the University of Michigan chapter of the Society of Composers, Inc. from 2000-2002, the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society, the Reed College Chamber Orchestra as well as guest conducting stints with the Rose City Chamber Orchestra in Portland, Oregon and the Lee University Chamber Orchestra in Cleveland, Tennessee.

Mr. Bayolo has been featured on Public Radio International’s Studio 360 broadcast out of WNYC in New York and most recently on the NPR program Fresh Ink broadcast out of WCNY in Syracuse. He has served on the faculties of Reed College and Hamilton College where he served as a Consortium for a Strong Minority Presence Fellow from 2006-2008 and is currently on the music theory faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Bayolo is the recipient 2008 Brandon Fradd fellowship in music from the Cintas Foundation and lives outside of Washington, D.C. with his wife and two daughters.