* En anglais uniquement
Arturo Parra is of Columbian extraction but lives in Montréal, Canada. This guitarist with a classical musical education has been devoting his career to the performance and composition of a modern repertoire for his instrument. His music is characterized by a dedication to finding a new musical language while keeping things simple and direct. His first major project is the cycle Parr(A)Cousmatique for guitar and tape, released in 2002 by Empreintes DIGITALes.
Already a virtuoso concert guitarist in his native country,
Parra arrived in Canada in 1989. He soon hooked up with the contemporary music scene, performing with Montreal's
Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. His interest in extended playing techniques and sonic research led him to the pool of electro-acoustic music composers the city hosts. He first collaborated with Stéphane Roy, performing in his tape piece "Mimetismo," completed in 1992 and released in 1996 on the CD Kaleidos. This experience planted a seed. While completing his PhD in music, the guitarist decided to forgo his distance from interpretation to focus on composition. He asked a number of electro-acousticians to work with him on the project that became Parr(A)cousmatique. Roy, Gilles Gobeil,
Robert Normandeau, and
Francis Dhomont accepted his invitation to create standalone tape pieces over which he added a written guitar part. The program premiered at the 15th FIMAV festival in Victoriaville in May 1998. "Soledad," his collaboration with Gobeil, won the Public Prize at the fourth Concurso Intermacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo in 2001. The tape-alone pieces came out on various albums, while the guitar-and-tape versions are gathered on a CD released in 2002. In parallel with this project,
Parra formed the group Paroles Égales with actress Catherine Ego. Pairing spoken word with contemporary classical guitar, the duo has been performing occasionally in Montreal since 1998. ~ François Couture