John Hidalgo

Welcome to my music page. I am a composer, conductor, and music educator. I earned my MA in music composition from California State University-East Bay, where I studied composition and analysis with Frank La Rocca, Jeffrey Miller, and Rafael Hernandez, and conducting and music education with Tim Smith (now at Sacramento State). My BA is from Tulane University, in music. I did a turn in the tech world between the two degrees. Currently I teach music technology—digital recording, editing, post-production, sequencing, notation, and film scoring—and musicology/ethnomusicology at CSU-East Bay, and music history and iterature at San Jose Community College and Gavilan College.

The music I compose is primarily for acoustic instruments. (The samples on this page are computer-generated MIDI realizations.) My pieces fall into two general categories. Triptych 2:3, Three Rivers, and Etude for Organ are works for accomplished musicians. The other pieces were written for or commissioned by community or student ensembles. Marche de Triomphe was composed for the 2008 graduation ceremony at Alameda High School in California. The two carols, Noel Nouvelet and Lo How a Rose, were commissioned by the Menlo Park Chorus, also in California.

Besides my teachers/mentors, I have many influences, including Samuel Barber and Gustav Holst, George Rochberg, Ned Rorem, Bela Bartok, Igor Stravinsky, Arvo Part, Imant Raminsh, and many others—the list changes periodically for no apparent reason. But despite my background in electronic music and digital audio production (or perhaps because of it) my work is primarily in acoustic contemporary classical music.

Before concentrating on classical composition, I played popular music--rock, R&B, jazz, folk, and country. I play guitar, bass guitar, pedal steel guitar, and keyboards. In these styles, I have many influences, most stemming from my upbringing in New Orleans, a unique and (thankfully) rapidly revitalizing city that has directly or indirectly influenced so many artists in so many idioms for so many years.

I hope you enjoy my music. I am always looking for good musicians to collaborate with, and for guest   conductor opportunities with professional and community orchestras, choirs, and bands. I am also   interested in commissions for orchestras, choirs, bands, soloists, chamber ensembles, and film scores.   Please feel free to contact me to discuss collaborations.

 JH