From Argentina, Osvaldo Golijov

Osvaldo Golijov grew up in an Eastern European Jewish household in La Plata, Argentina. Born to a piano teacher mother and physician father, Golijov was raised in an atmosphere of classical chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music and the nuevo tango of Astor Piazzolla. His blending of genres and seamless integration of voices speak volumes about his approach and style, a musical language that can only be termed “Golijovian.”

Since the early 1990s, Golijov has enjoyed collaborations with some of the world’s leading chamber music ensembles. such as the Kronos Quartet and the St. Lawrence String Quartet, in addition to relationships with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw and Robert Spano, and orchestras including the Atlanta, Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras. In 2000, the premiere of Golijov’s La Pasión según San Marcos (St. Mark Passion) took the music world by storm. The Boston Globe called it “the first indisputably great composition of the 21st century.” Golijov has also received acclaim for his opera Ainadamar and the clarinet quintet The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind.

In recent years, members of the Silkroad Ensemble have toured with Golijov’s Falling Out of Time, including a 2022 performance at Carnegie Hall. The 80-minute song cycle, based on the novel by David Grossman, is available on In a Circle Records. The recording was nominated for a Latin Grammy. The Guardian called it “a Kindertotenlieder for our fragile present.”

Golijov recently composed the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola’s film, “Megalopolis,” which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Megalopolis Suite, featuring music from the film, will receive its premiere by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti this fall. Golijov has also composed music for Coppola’s films “Youth Without Youth,” “Tetro” and “Twixt.”

Other recent works include The Given Note, a violin concerto for soloist Johnny Gandelsman and the Knights; LAIKA for countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, premiered by the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall; Ever Yours for string octet, premiered by St. Lawrence String Quartet and Telegraph Quartet, and Um Día Bom for the string quartet Brooklyn Rider.

This fall, the Metropolitan Opera presents a critically acclaimed new production of Ainadamar by Olivier Award-winning choreographer and director Deborah Colker, co-produced by Detroit Opera, Opera Ventures, Scottish Opera and Welsh National Opera.

Golijov is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Vilcek Prize and two Grammy Awards. He was the CSO’s Mead Composer-in-Residence from 2006 to 2010. He is now composer-in-residence at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he has taught since 1991.

Osvaldo Golijov’s Megalopolis Suite, featuring music from Francis Ford Coppola’s film, will receive its premiere by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti on Nov. 8-9.