Through more than 200 works composed for a wide range of performance genres including interdisciplinary, site specific, and works with and without electronics for orchestra, choir, soloists, and a variety of chamber ensembles, Orlando Jacinto Garcia has established himself as an important figure in the new music world. The distinctive character of his music has often been described as "time suspended- haunting sonic explorations" qualities he developed from his studies with Morton Feldman among others.
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1954, Garcia migrated to the United States in 1961. In demand as a guest composer, he is the recipient of numerous honors and awards from a variety of organizations and institutions including the Rockefeller, Fulbright, Knight, Civitella, Bogliasco, and Cintas Foundations, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, State of Florida, MacDowell and Millay Colony, and the Ariel, Noise International, Matiz Rangel, Nuevas Resonancias, Salvatore Martirano, and Bloch International Competitions. Most recently he has been the recipient of 5 Latin Grammy nominations in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition Category (2009-11, 2015, 2021). With performances around the world at important venues by distinguished performers, his works are recorded on New Albion, O.O. Discs, CRI /New World, Albany, North/South, CRS, Rugginenti, VDM, Capstone, Innova, CNMAS, Opus One, Telos, Toccata Classics, and Metier/Divine Art.
Garcia is the founder and director of the NODUS Ensemble, the Miami Chapter of the International Society for Contemporary Music, the New Music Miami ISCM Festival, and is a resident composer for the Miami Symphony. A dedicated educator, he is Distinguished University Professor and Composer in Residence for the School of Music at Florida International University.
At MacDowell in 2014, Garcia completed tw chamber works: pentimento, for the Nuevo Ensemble de Segovia (premiered by them in the fall 2014 at the COMA Festival in Madrid), and ascension for the Suono Sacro Ensemble in Assisi, Italy (premiered by them that summer 2014 in Assisi).
