Itzam Zapata
BIOGRAPHY
Itzam Zapata (Mexico City, 1989)
Itzam Zapata’s musical ideal is to synthesize all the music he loves, searching for his own liberty of style. His eclectic musical style can freely include Gregorian chants, microtonality, romantic melodic lines, and post serial textures.
Itzam’s decision to search for imaginative eclecticism in music has resonated with audiences worldwide, as he has won numerous competitions, including the 1st prize in the Frank Robert Abell Young Composer Competition for his work Piñatas, Glitter and Stilettos, the Flex Ensemble Commissioning Competition, the “Coup de cœur du public” for his work The Poetry of Negation in the FORUM2014, the “Sonic Landscape” prize in the 2nd IFCM Composition Competition for his work On Desire for choir, among others.
Thanks to his numerous accolades, Zapata’s music has been performed by several ensembles all around the world, including Talea Ensemble, VOCES8, Avanti!, Contemporaneous, Uusinta, Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Defunensemble, the Ostrobothnia Chamber Orchestra, Flex Ensemble, Orquesta de Camara de Bellas Artes, among others.
Zapata’s music recently has been recorded by the label Tempus Clasico, ArsPublica, Nova Musica among others in Mexico, Italy, and France.
Zapata holds a Master’s degree in Composition from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki where he studied with Lauri Kilpiö. He also studied with Tristan Murail in the Mozarteum in Salzburg and has participated in masterclasses with Hans Abrahamsen, Giovanni Verrando, SergejNewski, Jukka Tiensuu, among others.
