Andres Levell

Andrés Levell (Caracas, 1983), is a Venezuelan pianist and composer. At the age of eleven, he began his studies in music. He is a self-taught composer. The son of artist parents, he developed an interest in various branches of the arts, which he has explored in one way or another. He has ventured into composing music for dance and theater, dramaturgy (including his multidisciplinary stage works Siete Réquiems del Suicidio, Reflexiones de un Autista, premiered in February 1999, and Suite Dreptklooniwtlavsptf, premiered at the Teresa Carreño Theater in October 2003 under the author’s direction, with the special participation of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel), narrative (a short novel in progress, Flores en jugo de naranja, and a short story collection in progress, Alicia y la Melancolía), and musical composition (the cycle of works El Despertar de los Templos Dormidos for mixed choir, actors’ choir, soloists, solo piano, dancers, and symphony orchestra—a kind of opera still in progress—Danzas del Desgarramiento, Naturaleza Muerta for piano, Espectros for piano and string quartet, Zeus toma la forma de un cisne for voice and piano, etc.). Between September and November 2004, he was selected through the UNESCO-Aschberg program to undertake a scholarship as part of the Young Artists Programme, consisting of a creative residency at the Conservatorio de Las Rosas in Morelia (Mexico). This residency was later suspended by the conservatory following a performance titled Recital de Piano, in which the young composer expressed his disagreement with certain institutional policies and articulated his views on the broader problem of the arts in contemporary Western culture; consequently, the premiere of the final multidisciplinary work, 10 pequeños retratos de mujer desnuda, was canceled. In October 2003, the Dédalus Festival of the Arts took place across several major venues in Caracas. The project was conceived, produced, and directed by Levell, then 19 years old, based on a multidisciplinary concept of economy of means and in partnership with cultural institutions in the country. The festival had no budget, and all participating artists (around 200, including both emerging and established figures) waived their professional fees. A total of 15 musical works and 22 choreographies were premiered, with participation from theater companies and visual artists, across 19 events over three weeks. In April 2005, his work Trance for string quartet received first prize at the Second National Young Composers Salon in Caracas, Venezuela.