Arturo Márquez

Arturo Márquez Navarro (born 20 December 1950) is a Mexican composer of orchestral music who uses musical forms and styles of his native Mexico and incorporates them into his compositions. His best known work is Danzón No. 2. Life Márquez was born in Álamos, Sonora, in 1950 where his interest in music began. Márquez is the first born of nine children of Arturo Márquez and Aurora Navarro. Márquez was the only one of the nine siblings to become a musician. Márquez's father was a mariachi musician in Mexico and later in Los Angeles. His paternal grandfather was a Mexican folk musician in the northern states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Márquez's father and grandfather exposed him to several musical styles in his childhood, particularly Mexican "salon music" which would be the impetus for his later musical repertoire. His education began in La Puente, California where he spent his middle school and high school years. After returning to Mexico, Márquez studied at the Conservatory of Music and the Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico. He also had a private study in Paris with Jacques Castérède after receiving a scholarship from the French government. Márquez began composing at the age of 16 and attended the Mexican Music Conservatory, where he studied piano and music theory from 1970 to 1975. Márquez studied composition from 1976 to 1979 with Federico Ibarra, Joaquín Gutiérrez Heras, and Héctor Quintanar. In the U.S., he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and in 1990 obtained a MFA in composition from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. Until the 1990s, Márquez music was largely unknown outside his native country, which changed when he was introduced to the world of Latin ballroom dancing, which led to his most famous compositions the Danzones. His music incorporates forms and styles of his native Mexico. The Danzones are based on the music of the Veracruz region of Mexico. Danzón No.