Angélica Negrón facts for kids

Angélica Negrón (born in 1981) is a talented composer and musician from Puerto Rico. She is known for creating unique music using instruments like accordions, robotic instruments, toys, and electronics. She also writes music for bigger groups like orchestras, choirs, and even for movies.

Angélica is a founding member of the electronic indie band Balún, where she sings and plays the accordion. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. She also teaches young composers through programs like the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program and Lincoln Center Education.

She grew up in San Juan, where she started learning piano and violin at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. You can hear influences from the Caribbean in her music, especially with her band Balún.

Angélica is currently working on a special project called Chimera. It's an opera for drag queen performers and a small group of musicians. It explores ideas about fantasy, illusion, and identity.

About Her Life

Angélica Negrón was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. When she was a child, she studied piano and violin at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. She later earned her master's degree at New York University and continued her studies in music composition at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Angélica loves to teach. She works with the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers Program and Lincoln Center Education. She also helped start a Spanish music program for young children called Acopladitos. She has received special awards and fellowships for her artistic work, like the New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship.

Negrón has written music for many different art forms and shows. This includes music for films like Memories of a Penitent Heart. Her music has been featured at big events like the Ecstatic Music Festival and the Bang on a Can Summer Festival. Her collection of instruments started with a Strawberry Shortcake music box! Now, it includes bells, trumpets, voice boxes, and whistles. She performs with her electro-acoustic pop band, Balún, and her chamber music group, Arturo en el barco.

Her Music Career

Angélica Negrón has been asked to create music for many famous groups and organizations. These include the Albany Symphony, the Kronos Quartet, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She has also written music for the New York Botanical Garden.

She enjoys working with other artists, such as Lido Pimienta and Sasha Velour. Her music has been played at important venues like the Kennedy Center and the Tribeca Film Festival, where her film scores have been heard many times. She has written music for documentaries, films, theater plays, and modern dance. She often works with an experimental theater company from Puerto Rico called Y No Había Luz. They use puppets, masks, and unusual objects in their plays.

Angélica continues to perform and compose music for films. She has upcoming projects with the Seattle Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Balún (2003–Present)

Balún is an experimental electronic band that Angélica Negrón started with her husband, José A. Oliveres. The band began in the indie music scene of San Juan. Their music is often described as "dreampop" with influences from reggaeton. They use drum machines, traditional bomba barrel drums, and Puerto Rican guitars like the jíbaro guitarillo and cuatro. This mix gives their sound a strong Caribbean feel. They call their unique sound “dreambow,” which combines "dreampop" and "dembow," a rhythm from Jamaica.

In 2016, their song "La Nueva Ciudad” became very popular. It made it onto Spotify's Viral Top 50 list around the world and in eight Latin American countries.

• Albums:
• Something Comes Our Way - 2006
• An EP Collection - 2006
• Memoria Textil - 2010
• Prisma Tropical - 2018

• Singles and EPs:
• EP1 - 2003
• Nada Que Hacer Hoy - 2003
• While Sleeping - 2004
• Snol EP - 2006
• Camila - 2011
• El Medio Contenido - 2011
• La Luna - 2012

Awards and Recognition

Angélica Negrón has received several awards for her amazing work:

• She won the Hermitage Greenfield Prize in 2022.
• Q2 and NPR listeners chose her as one of “The Mix: 100 Composers Under 40.”
• Flavorpill named her one of the “10 Young Female Composers You Should Know.”
• She received a NYFA Artists’ Fellowship in 2016.
• She won the Imagen Award in 2020 for "Best Music Composition for Film or TV" for her work on Independent Lens.

Compositions

Angélica Negrón has written many different types of musical pieces. Here are some of the categories of her compositions:

Orchestra

These are pieces for a large group of musicians playing many different instruments.

• Un dos, tres (2019)
• Sonidos del Avistamiento (2019)
• Mapping (2017)

Large Ensemble

These pieces are for a big group of musicians, but usually smaller than a full orchestra.

• Begin at the Beginning (2018) for middle school string ensemble
• The Blue Hour (2016) a song cycle for string orchestra and mezzo-soprano
• El gran caleidoscopio (2012)

Chamber Ensemble

These are pieces for a smaller group of musicians, often just a few.

• Conversación a distancia (2020) for clarinet, vibraphone, piano, violin, cello and electronics
• Marejada (2020) for string quartet and electronics
• Say Something in Spanish (2020) for soprano, clarinet, tenor sax, violin, cello, and percussion

Solo

These are pieces written for just one instrument or one performer.

• Cooper and Emma (2020) for violin
• Parallax (2018) for piano and live electronics
• Las Desaparecidas (2016) for cello and electronics

Vocal

These pieces are written for singers or choirs.

• Calladita (2020) for SSAA chorus (female voices)
• Cosecha (2020) for SSAA chorus
• Chorus of the Forest (2019) for SATB chorus (mixed voices), robotic percussion, and electronics

Ballet

• “Casa tomada” (2006) for chamber orchestra

Filmography

Angélica has composed music for many films and documentaries:

• Landfall, Cecilia Aldarondo (2020)
• The First Rainbow Coalition, Ray Santisteban (2019)
• The Feeling of Being Watched, Assia Boundaoui (2018)
• Memories of a Penitent Heart, Cecilia Aldarondo (2016)
• Los condenados, Robertp Busó Garcia (2012)

Opera

• The Island We Made (2021)