About

BIOGRAPHY

Costa Rican American composer and guitarist Alejandro Lobo (b. 2004) crafts music that immerses listeners in “harmonically rich” and “narratively driven” sonic ecosystems. His work is marked by a nuanced attention to detail that ensures “every note is intentional” (the Review). Viewing composition as a dialogic, communal art form, Lobo treats music as a fluid, permeable language that prioritizes color and emotional grammar above conventional frameworks. His recent projects engage with gradual transformation, environmental/biological phenomena, and the architecture of language and culture.

Lobo has recently collaborated with the Bergamot Quartet, Ecce Ensemble, Valencia International Contemporary Ensemble, ISAM Ensemble, JCA Ensemble, and the University of Delaware's Concert Choir and Guitar Ensemble. He has received numerous accolades, most notably: the Presser Foundation Award, the Eagleson Memorial Award, the Jefferson Prize, and the National Hispanic Recognition Award.

Lobo’s strong ties to his Costa Rican heritage are deeply expressed through his music. This heritage traces back to his great grandfather, Raúl Cabezas Duffner, a founder of the country’s National Conservatory and the first Costa Rican to perform at Carnegie Hall. Lobo returns often to compose, perform, and visit his family.

His academic work includes award-winning research on "DuPonts' Musical Legacy: Northern Delaware's Music of 1890-1920" and extensive studies of Latin American guitar culture and technique abroad in Costa Rica, Panama, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. He has been invited to present across the US and abroad in San José (CR), Valencia (ES), and Buenos Aires (AR).

Lobo is co-founder of the Outward Collective and New Music Ensemble, a composer-performer-led initiative dedicated to advancing new music through multidisciplinary performance, promotion, and collaboration alongside fellow composers Robbie Strauss and S.E. Andrews.

A Mária Telkes Distinguished Scholar, Lobo is currently Composer-in-Residence with the Wilmington Classical Guitar Society. He studies at the University of Delaware with composers Yoshiaki Onishi, Rachael Marie Smith, and Jennifer Barker.

Outside of music, Lobo enjoys writing poetry, rock climbing, strategy games, and competitive distance running. He proudly possesses personal records of 1:14:10 and 2:38:16 in the half and full marathons (5:39 & 6:02 min per mile).

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