Daniel Doura

Daniel Doura (; born 9 August 1957) is an Argentine composer of classical music. Considered one of the Argentine composers who currently have international exposure, Doura is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Columbia University, and among his teachers were John Cage, Mario Davidovsky, Chou Wen-chung, Alberto Ginastera, Luciano Berio, Tōru Takemitsu, Milton Babbitt and John Adams, among others. into a family of music-loving industrialists. His father is one of the founders of the seaside resort town of Costa del Este, Buenos Aires Province. He began his musical studies in 1966, at the age of 9, taking guitar lessons with Clelia Sagreras. in addition to studying electronic music with Arthur Kreiger and other professors in New York between 1983 and 1986. Given the impossibility of recording the work in the country, Sinfonía argentina was recorded in Prague, Czech Republic in November 2015, performed by the Prague Metropolitan Orchestra and the Prague Chamber Choir and conducted by the Uruguayan Roberto Montenegro. The resulting CD was released in 2016 by the Uruguayan label Sondor. and later at the Centro Cultural Recoleta in Buenos Aires. In addition, he composed the music for the exhibition "Federico.... Dónde estés", which brought together works inspired by Federico García Lorca and was held in October 2021 at the ArtexArte gallery, Buenos Aires. The composition accompanied readings of Lorca's poems by gallery owner Luz Castillo, in counterpoint with a projection of images.

On 4 March 2018, Doura premiered the work Sueños de verano (English: "Summer Dreams") at Jordan Hall of the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, performed by the Boston Civic Symphony under the baton of Francisco Noya. On August 10 of the same year, the composition had its Argentine premiere at the Symphonic Hall of the Kirchner Cultural Center, Buenos Aires, performed by the Argentine National Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Gustavo Fontana. Sueños de verano received the award for Best Argentine Premiere of the year, awarded by the Argentine Music Critics Association. The first of these presentations was on 18 October 2018 in the city of Teplice, Czech Republic, followed by Munich, Germany on October 21 and ending in Prague on November 3. On October 27, 2022, Sinfonía argentina was performed at the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid in a benefit concert in favor of UNICEF, Fundación Querer and Scholas Occurrentes.

In 2023, Doura served as musical director of the show Picasso y la danza. Un encuentro con Lorca en Granada, a project by Carlos Saura with choreographic direction by Andrés Marín, which ran from August 2 to 26 of that year at the Teatro del Generalife, Granada, as part of the XXII edition of the Lorca y Granada festival. The work functions as a tribute to Pablo Picasso and Federico García Lorca, in confluence with flamenco music and dance, featuring leading figures of the genre such as Rocío Molina, Farruquito, Israel Fernández, Ana Morales, Manuel Lombo, Antonio Canales and Manuela Carrasco. Picasso y la danza was Saura's last project before his death, working until two weeks before his death on the show alongside his son, Carlos Saura Medrano, who took over the direction in his absence and stated that his father "left very angry that he could not make it."

Doura also composed the original music for the film Después del final by Argentine director Pablo César, based on the life of cultural personality Luz Fernández Castillo, who plays herself. and was also part of the official competition at the 39th Mar del Plata International Film Festival. César contacted Fernández Castillo through Doura, as she stated in an interview: "When Pablo César calls me on the phone he says: Mrs. Luz Castillo, I'm speaking to you on behalf of Daniel Doura, who is a very dear friend of mine who lives in Madrid, he is an exceptional musician who is working in Madrid on a television series and with Carlos Saura, no more and no less. I connected Carlos Saura with him. With Daniel one day, talking here about literature, having a coffee, I jokingly answered him with a verse by Federico García Lorca. And he was very impressed. (...) Well, I go to Spain, I meet Carlos Saura, we eat together, Carlos tells me (...) look, I want to make a television series about the life of Federico García Lorca and I would like you to recite. (...) And this crazy Daniel recorded the verses and passed them on to the crazy Pablo César. Except for the Pope and the Queen of England, he must have sent them to everyone, I tell Pablo César, in that call. And he answers me: I have never heard anyone recite like that, so I would like to make a film with you." The collaboration between Doura and Fernández Castillo resulted in the publication of a book, titled Lorca x Luz and published by Luz Fernández Ediciones in 2024. The official presentation of the publisher describes it as a: "Construction that delimits a shared territory between the passionate saying of Luz Castillo, the compositional talent of Daniel Doura and the sublime poetry of Federico García Lorca."

Selected works

Awards and recognitions