Manuel Jose de Quiros (?-1765)

He was a teacher, composer, and collector of music. He served as maestro of the Guatemala City Cathedral beginning in 1738 until his death in 1765. He composed 28 works which are primarily Spanish music with a poetic form. His works can be found only in the archives of the Francisco de Paula Garcia Pelaez, in Guatemala City. Several of his compositions are in Latin, such as Parce mihi Domine. All of his works have instruments which accompany it. One of his students included his nephew, Rafael Antonio Castellanos who became maestro of the cathedral after his death. He had interests in Italian music, as well as Spanish and collected a number of works of Italian and Spanish composers of his time period such as Galuppi (Italian) and Sebastian Duron (Spanish) .

Jesus Castillo (1877-1946)

used musical themes in his compositions as well as Indian participants. His brother Ricardo Castillo (1891-1966) was also a Guatemalan composer who had spent time in Paris to study the violin and compose.

Luis Felipe Arias (1870-1908)

was one of the first Guatemalan composers to have a folk theme to his music; most of his work was composed for the piano which was his musical instrument.

Guatemala

Guatemala is located in Central America. Its capital is Guatemala City. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, by the north east by Belize, and by the south east by El Salvador and Honduras. Guatemalan music is comprised of two major cultures: creoles of Spanish language and heritage, and Mayan which includes more than fifty percent of the population.

Julian Carrillo (1875-1965)

Carillo showed versatility in his musical endeavors being a composers, theorist, conductor, violinist, inventor and a teacher. He was a student of Morales. In 1895 he was experimenting with string division and developed a 'new sound' on the violin and called it el sonido trece (the 13th sound).
He served many years at the National Conservatory but had to leave for New York until the presidency of Obregón. He soon resigned from his public duties and focused more on his theories. He did extensive work with 1/16-tones and created a new notational system. IN 1930 his orchestra was capable of playing exclusively in microtones.

Juventino Rosas (1868-1894)

A very well known violinist and composer of Otomí Indian birth. His father was a harpist and his brothers were guitarists and singers. Shortly before he died in 1894, Rosas composed a set of five waltzes entitled Sobre las olas. This piece is very commonly known in today's repertoire.

Tomas León (1826-1893)

Born in Mexico City, Leon studied music at a very young age and accomplished much by the age of 20. He was the organist of La Profesa in Mexico City at the age of 14. In 1854 he was asked t select the Mexican national anthem.
León was “the best pianist and teacher in Mexico City”. He founded the Sociedad Filarmónica Méxicana. Soon after the Conservatorio Nacional de Música was established. León's dedication to this was apparent as he taught without pay for about 6 years.
Melesio Morales: (1838-1908)
A student of Agustín Caballero, Morales was a well known Mexican composer. He began his first opera at the age of 18. After his second opera Ildegonda in 1865, he moved to Europe.
After 3 years he returned home and began working at the Mexico City Conservatory. He taught famous composers such as Ricardo Castro and Julian Carrillo. Morales was the first conductor to perform Beethoven's symphonies in Mexico. He also dabbled in interpretive orchestration with his piece La locomotiva.-----