Alejandro Acierto

other non-music projects

assimilation series nos. 1, 2, 4, 8, 13 (2006) acrylic on wood, groups of four panels each

sixteen panels (2007) acrylic, pen, pencil and copy transfers on wood (serving as the visual companion pieces to sixteen panels for flute, viola, piano, and percussion)

early works

Metamorphosis No. 1 (2004) for solo piano

Portrait No. 1 (2004) for oboe, clarinet and piano

The Marionette (2002-3) for flute/piccolo, A/Bb clarinets, piano, marimba, violin and cello

Songs of Nature (2002) for flute/alto flute and clarinet

short biography

Alejandro T. Acierto is a native Chicago clarinetist, composer, installation artist, and activist living, working, and organizing within the community. He is currently a fourth year student at DePaul University studying clarinet performance and composition with Wagner Campos and Juan Campoverde, respectively. His other principal teachers include Julie DeRoche and John Yeh for clarinet studies, and Kurt Westerberg, David Smooke, and Pat Morehead for composition studies. He is also pursuing studies in Asian-American and Gender studies at DePaul. He is the co-founder and co-currator of the Student New Music Ensemble at DePaul which actively promotes new music to students and performers. In addition to playing with the Student New Music Ensemble, Alejandro also plays with Dal Niente (dalniente.com), a New Music ensemble in Chicago, Yes is a World, a group of musicians dedicated to promoting social justice through music, and with Preclear, an improvising trio of vibes, clarinets, and electronics.

As a composer, Alejandro's music is currently focused on the politics of representation and identity as a way to critically deconstruct the normative culture that he lives in. Using critical race and feminist theory as part of his framework, his music attempts to engage in a dialogue that challenges the listener to a higher level of musical and socially critical consciousness.

current work

elegy (2004) for solo improvising bass clarinet

selcric fragments (2006) for two clarinets or any number of instruments

untitled from the reconstruction series (2006) for solo prerecorded electronics

a meditation on the current situation in the news, or, how I managed to become stripped of my reality (in two and a half parts) from contexts (2006) for solo prerecorded electronics

this piece is not about the war (2006-7) for solo multi percussion

works in progress:

16 panels for flute, viola, piano, and percussion

contexts from the reconstruction series for solo prerecorded electronics

other sound projects in progress

two hundred purple monsters (2006-7) a sound installation for 199 small sized noise making purple monsters and 1 large noise making purple monster

one hundred speakers (2006-7) sound installation with one hundred speakers and carbon paper

sound boxes (2006-7) sound/music making cigar boxes placed throughout the city of chicago