DIEGO ROCHA

Composer,
Trombonist,
Conductor

I have little desire to write music that only I might hear. 

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I want to make music that is uncompromising, that affects the listener, and that is transformative. But this isn't possible without people to play and people to listen, and to that end, this website exists.

Here you will find scores, recordings, and contact information of mine.

WHAT I'M ABOUT

EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION

AESTHETIC DIVERSITY

COMPLETE MUSICIANSHIP

My goal as a contemporary classical composer is to write music of uncompromising emotional intensity. I want to write the music that someone needs.

Polystylistic writing is my nature. From neo-romantic, to minimalist, to aleatory and indeterminacy and everything in between, I'll write it.

I believe in diversity of musicianship; besides composing, I am active as a trombonist, conductor and teacher.

MY WORKS

My two most recent pieces are shown below,
to see more, please go to my "Compositions" page.

CHARACTER STUDY I

for unaccompanied flute

Character Study I is an exploration of the flute’s natural tendencies, both in a historical and contemporary sense. The piece is largely based on patterns and sounds that have long had a place in flute performance, now melded with more modern extended techniques and pitch structures to create the whole. 

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The work is of moderate-short length (ca. 6') and is intended for a skilled flutist (advanced undergraduate and above), familiar with some extended techniques including flutter-tonguing, singing while playing, and quarter-tones.

{5,3}

for pierrot + percussion

{5,3} is a short piece written for pierrot + percussion (without singer). It's based on a twelve tone row, but does not strictly follow serialist technique, instead using the row as a subject for fugue-like counterpoint. In doing this, it explores connections between the pitches not usually possible in serialist compositions, an idea which lends it comparison to a dodecahedron. This three-dimensional shape can be represented as {5,3}, meaning that each side has five vertices and each of the vertices connects three sides. Likewise, the piece has three voices the interact with each other in a wide variety of ways.