Gonzalo Castellanos Yumar

Gonzalo Castellanos Yumar (born June 3, 1926 in Canoabo ) is a Venezuelan composer.

Evencio Castellanos's younger brother received his first lessons from his father Pablo Castellanos Almenar and from 1941 attended the Escuela Superior de Música José Angel Lamas , where Vicente Emilio Sojo was his composition teacher. In 1947 he was awarded the title Maestro Compositor for his Suite Caraqueña . In 1952 he received the Premio Nacional de Música de Cámara for his Fantasía Cromática for organ, and two years later the Premio Vicente Emilio Sojo for Antelación e Imitación Fugaz .

He lived in Europe until 1963, where he studied conducting with Sergiu Celibidache and instrumentation with Pierre Wesner and Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur and assisted Olivier Messiaen in his analysis classes. On his return to Venezuela he became the founder and director of the choir of the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello and director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela (1966–78). In 1964 he founded the Collegium Musicum de Caracas . In 1990 he received Venezuela's highest award for musicians, the Premio Nacional de Música .

For many years Castellanos was professor of instrumentation at the Escuela Superior de Música José Ángel Lamas . He was also director of the Escuela de Música Juan Manuel Olivares and the Radio Nacional de Venezuela and musical director of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura y Bellas Artes . The Universidad Central de Venezuela awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Works

• Caraqueña Suite , 1947
• Fantasía Cromática para órgano , 1952
• Antelación e Imitación Fugaz , 1954
• Fantasía Sinfónica para piano y orquesta , 1958
• Divertimento para once instrumentos , 1966
• Concierto para violín y orquesta , 1972