Roberto Sierra, legendary composer and winner of the prestigious Tomás Luis de Victoria Prize, has been chosen as one of four remarkable composers to write a piece for the Musical Fund Society’s bicentennial celebration. Sierra, like many composers, surrounds himself with inspiration, balancing the internal and external aspects of his life. So what does a day in the life of a composer look like?

SOLITUDE IN THE MORNING

According to Sierra, he is able to be most inspired and create his best work in the morning. He shares that his “monkish” time begins only after breakfast with his wife. Of course, Sierra admits that at least three or four coffees get him through these creative mornings. Sierra says that he likes to keep multiple projects and commissions going at the same time. 

He dedicates the initial part of his mornings to the most creatively challenging aspects of his work: developing ideas and new pieces. One of these new pieces, Graffiti II, was commissioned for the Musical Fund Society’s Bicentennial Celebration in April. After composing, Sierra dedicates up to four hours a day to producing and editing scores and parts. Practice makes perfect! 

“Composing is simultaneously a most isolating and decidedly collaborative art form,” Sierra said. “So while mornings are solitary and introverted, after lunch I become an extrovert.” 

HIS AFTERNOON RITUALS 

The more social and interpersonal aspects of Sierra’s musical lifestyle take effect in the afternoons. From meetings in Manhattan with colleagues or younger mentees to rehearsals of his many works, Sierra shares that his afternoons are busy and far more social than his solitary mornings. 

When preparing for a performance, Sierra often puts aside an hour or two of piano practice in the early afternoon to fine tune his skills. His afternoons also consist of emails, phone calls, and texts about different projects or with his close friends, who he says share his passion for music. It’s clear that Sierra has found the perfect balance to foster a fulfilling career and genuine passion for music. 

“For me, the trick to sustaining a successful compositional career is finding the balance between my internal creative life and my external social life,” he says. “When it works right, one complements the other.”

MUSICAL FUND SOCIETY COMMISSION

Many days of work and ritual went into the completion of Graffiti II. The Prism Quartet will premiere this work at the Musical Fund Society’s Bicentennial Celebration in Philadelphia. The piece is actually a sequel to his previous 2017 work, Graffiti, and is meant to depict the city of Philadelphia’s notorious street art. His brilliant, fresh score combined with the Prism Quartet’s brilliant playing is sure to move you in the best way possible! 

The Musical Fund Society’s Bicentennial Celebration will be hosted at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Three other artists were commissioned for the event: Tania León, Augusta Read Thomas, and Stephen Jaffe. The event is sure to be a wonderful celebration of music and rich history for the city of Philadelphia.

EXPLORE COMPOSER PROFILES

Celebrating the Musical Fund Society’s Bicentennial