José Rozo Contreras

José Rozo Contreras (born January 7, 1894 in Bochalema , Norte de Santander , † October 12, 1976 in Bogotá ) was a Colombian composer.

Rozo Contreras had first lessons from the bishop and musician Francisco de Paula Rivera and conducted the Bochalema Orchestra at the age of seventeen. He also had lessons from Oscar Zuccarini , Cesare Duvice and Alexandro Vasella . In 1913 he went to Pamplona , where he did his military service as a flutist, clarinetist and saxophonist in a regimental band. He then directed a small orchestra in Bucaramanga and became director of the military band of the Batallón de Santander in Pamplona.

From 1924 he studied at the Academia de Música Santa Cecília with Luigi Cireney , from 1929 in Vienna with Eugen Zádor . It was here in 1930 that the Wiener Symphoniker under Anton Konrath premiered his suite Tierra Colombiana .

In 1931 Rozo Contreras returned to Colombia and in 1933 became director of the National Orchestra (Banda Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia) in Bogotá ; he held this position until his death. In 1969 he published autobiographical fragments under the title Memorias de un Músico de Bochalema .

Individual evidence

↑ José Rozo Contreras. Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de Colombia, archived from the original on March 5, 2007 ; Retrieved August 28, 2013 (Spanish).

personal data
SURNAME	Rozo Contreras, José
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Colombian composer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 7, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bochalema , Norte de Santander
DATE OF DEATH	October 12, 1976
Place of death	Bogotá

[1] José Rozo Contreras. Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de Colombia, archived from the original on March 5, 2007 ; Retrieved August 28, 2013 (Spanish).