...what do you wanna know?

The Very Beginnings
My grandparents immigrated from Poland and Rumania (currently the Republic of Moldova) to Argentina, where I was born many many years later. If I sum up my heritage, where I grew up and where I lived for the last 13 years, can I say I am a Polish-Rumanian/Moldovian-Argentinian-American composer? Anyway, my musical journey began when I was five years old in Buenos Aires.
 

After Many Years...
After many years as a woodwind player, I started to dedicate more time to composition. In Buenos Aires, I attended Escuela de Música Popular de Avellaneda where I received a degree in Tango performance.
 

A few  years later...
A few years later, more exactly in January 1993, I decided to move to Boston to study Jazz Composition and Music for Film at Berklee College of Music. Since then, I have focused primarily on composition mainly for large ensembles and developing my own conducting as part of the compositional process.
 

And now...
Currently, I live in New York city since August 2000. As a composer I like to have moments of introspection and moments of extroversion. My periods of instrospection are the moments where I "submerge" and conceptualize ideas. The ideal places for this kind of moments are the Artist Residencies I participate. New York city works as a pivot point where I can be both introspective and extroverted. I can "emerge" from my own world of ideas, and bring my artistic projects to life in the form of performances and recording productions. While in New York city, I also organize Listening Sessions since Fall 2001 as a space to listen and discuss music with other attentive listeners. In my life, I also like "moving", travelling to places not known to me... I like the notion of "starting from zero", the notion of becoming a new cell in an already functioning organism, and having to find a place in it. Check out the What is it? What do I do? section to learn more about it.
 
 

Artist Residencies as a Fellow Composer or Music Curator
Artist colonies are a blessing. I discovered a few years ago the amazing experience of being a fellow resident... it's like being in paradise. The main thing you have to do is create! Check out some of the colonies I have participated in the past.
 

Awards
Awards are also a blessing. A group of people decides whether you get the money to do your project or not. I was on both sides, as the awardee and the awarder. The dynamics of the process are very interesting.
 

Laura Andel Orchestra at The Kitchen, NYC, May 12, 2007; © Photograph by Jacob Blickenstaff