LIHUEN SIRVENT

BIO

María Lihuen Sirvent is an Argentinian composer and flutist currently based in Buffalo, New York. 

Humor, levity, and joy are common threads that bind her work together, beyond her diverse aesthetic and philosophical interests. She delves into these feelings through more or less explicit means to trace the intersections between the collectivism of her Latin-American background and her millennial mindset.   

She has participated in several music festivals such as June in Buffalo (US), Impuls (Austria), Barcelona Modern (Spain), and many others. She has also been active in the organization of festivals as a concert producer (Charlotte New Music Festival – US), lecturer (Tomás Lefever Festival – Chile), and flutist (ECI La Plata – Argentina).

In the last few years, she has been working on music with live electronics that generate interactions between sound and light (including video) employing feedback systems. This path includes the development and combination of different technologies (both digital and analog), as well as the rationale of the artistic practice and its communicative possibilities when visual elements are at play.

contact: lihsirvent@gmail.com

CV

– PhD in Music Composition (ABD), University at Buffalo (SUNY), graduation: Fall 2025.

             Studied with David Felder and Tiffany Skidmore.  

– Master of Music in Composition, UNC Greensboro. Graduated: May 2020.

             Studied with Alejandro Rutty, Mark Engebretson, and Lisa Bielawa.

– Licenciatura en Música, orientación Composición, FDA-UNLP (Facultad de Artes, Universidad Nacional de La Plata). Graduated: 2018.

6 years of post-secondary studies, comparable to BM and MM studies in Music Composition.

             Studied with Carlos Mastropietro, Cecilia Villanueva, and Mariano Etkin.

– Profesorado en Música, orientación en Composición, FDA-UNLP. Graduated: 2014.

            6 years of post-secondary studies, equivalent to a Bachelor of Music in Education degree.

  • New Music on the Point Latin American Scholarship (2024).
  • Morris Scholarship Funds to attend to an international music festival in Italy (2022).
  • UNCG, Graduate School Office: Greensboro Graduate Scholar Award (2018/20).
  • Black Dot Press Call for Scores: original score publication. (2019).
  • UNCG School of Music: Financial help with the expenses of four composers to participate in the “Argentina/US Exchange Concert.” (2019).
  • Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y Culto de la República Argentina: financial help to attend to the “Ninth Nordic Saxophone Festival” at Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium in Aarhus, Denmark. (2017)
  • Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile: stipend and full expenses cover to lecture and perform at the “IV Conferencia Tomás Lefever.” (2014).
  • “New Music on the Point” Vermont (2024). Participating composer.
  • “Barcelona Modern” Spain (2023). Participating composer. 
  • “Impuls” Graz, Austria (2023). Composer.
  • “SoundSCAPE” Bobbio, Italy (2022). Participating composer, work study: sound and video recording.
  • “June in Buffalo”. Participating composer (2021).
  • “Hypercube Composition Lab”. Guest composer and intern (2020). 
  • “Charlotte New Music Festival”. Production manager and technology support (2020).
  • “Argentina/US Exchange Concerts” The project includes live-streaming concerts in both countries promoting music by young composers from UNCG and FDA-UNLP. Artistic director (2019). 
  • “Ninth Nordic Saxophone Festival” at Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium in Aarhus, Denmark. Guest composer (2017).
  • “Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern” by Helmut Lachenmann at the Teatro Colón conducted by Baldur Bronnimann. Internal video operator (2014).
  • “Infinita es la Historia de la Arena” by Dance Group of the FDA-UNLP “Aula20.” Guest composer and performer (2015).
  • Theater play “Cachafaz es la flor del hombre” directed by Alicia Durán. Composer and performer (2012). 
  • Theater play “La Fiesta de Casamiento” directed by Natalia Maldini. Performer (2013). 
  • Dance Project “DANZAFUERA” organized by all dance groups of La Plata city. Guest musician, composer and performer (2014).
  • Orchestral Conduction Graduation Recital, Conductor Ismael Gutiérrez. Guest composer (2017).
  • Research Assistant:
    – The Di Tella Institute in the Argentine and Latin American music scene of the second half of the 20th century. Directed by Edgardo Rodríguez. Sponsored by SCyT FDA-UNLP (2017/21).
    – Music Concert Rooms in Argentina. Musical use of Acoustic Space. Directed by Gustavo Basso. Sponsored by SCyT FDA-UNLP (2014/16). 
  • Lecturer:
    – “The Craft of Composing: between theory and practice” at Conservatorio Astor Piazzolla in Buenos Aires City and Facultad de Artes, in La Plata (2022).
    – 7th and 8th Jornadas de Investigación en Disciplinas Artísticas y Proyectuales JIDAP (2014 and 2016).
    – Masterclass about Music Writing in the 20th Century Latinamerican Music at the IV Conferencia Tomás Lefever. Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile (2014).
    – aCcion and Ceibo, 2nd course in composition. Presentation about Collaboration Between Music Ensembles and Composers. Organized by Luca Belcastro at the Cultural Center of Spain in Buenos Aires (2010).
  • Mark Diamond Scholarship Fund Grant reviewer (2022 and 2023).
  • Jury member for the Beo String Quartet Composition Competition (2020).
  • At UB:
    – Instructor of Record, Rock Music (Summer 2023, Summer 2024).
    – Instructor of Record, Composition Seminar (Fall 2023, Spring 2024). Syllabus design, classroom instruction, grading, and evaluation.
    – Instructor of Record, Electronic Music I and II (Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023). Syllabus design, classroom instruction, grading, and evaluation.
    – Instructor of Record, Genres of Music: Latin American Rock (Summer 2022).  Syllabus design, online instruction, grading, and evaluation.
    – Teaching Assistant, Aural Skills Lab (Fall 2021, Spring 2022).
    – Grader, Music and Money and Understanding Music (Spring 2021). Classroom and private instruction. Supervisor: Jonathan Golove.
  • At UNCG:
    – Teaching Assistant, Composition Skills (Fall 2019, Spring 2020). Classroom and private instruction. Supervisor: Mark Engebretson.
    – Teaching Assistant, Ear Training (Fall 2018, Spring 2018). Classroom and private instruction. Supervisor: Adam Ricci.
    – Graduate Assistant, Music Composition (Fall 2018 through Spring 2020). Organizing student concerts, tech support, and managing social media.  Supervisors: Mark Engebretson and Alejandro Rutty.
    – Graduate Assistant, Orchestration (Fall 2019). Organizing reading sessions, helping with feedback and proofreading arrangements by the students. Supervisor: Alejandro Rutty.
    – Graduate Assistant, Fundamentals of Music (Fall 2019). Grading and tutoring. Supervisor: Karen Messina.
  • At FDA-UNLP:
    – Ayudante Adscripta (akin to T.A.), Lenguajes Musicales Contemporáneos I y II (akin to Post Tonal Theory and Musical Analysis) (2013/15). Classroom instruction, research, organizing and providing access to bibliography (including translation) and study guides. Supervisor: Edgardo Rodríguez.
  • Other teaching positions:
    – Music Theory and Aural Skills teacher of the Children’s Choir of San Vicente and the Junior School Orchestra of La Carolina. Classroom instruction, educational field trips coordinator, conductor’s substitute, team-work collaboration and coordination with teachers from other areas of the orchestra (instrument teachers, administrative staff, parents’ group).
    – Music teacher in elementary schools and high schools from August 2012 through June 2018. Classroom instruction to kids from 4 to 18 years old. Institutions: ESB n54, EP n1, EP n25, EES n53, EES n54, EETS 5, Colegio Primario Padre Castañeda.
  • Software/Apps:
    – Score engraving: Sibelius, Finale, and MuseScore.
    – DAW: Reaper, Logic, Audition, Ableton.
    – Visual Programming Languages: Max/MSP/Jitter.
    – Adobe Package: Photoshop, Audition. 
    – Video editing: Filmora 9. DaVinci Resolve.
    – Coding: Arduino IDE (basic).
    – Web design: WordPress, Elementor (and basic HTML).  
  • Hardware:
    – A/V Connections (digital and analog).
    – Analog electronics.
    – Live video streaming (through OBS). 
    – DMX connections for lighting fixtures. 
    – Arduino, ESP32.
  • Concert tech assistance:
    – Live music recording.
    – Field recording.
    – Live electronic process assistance.
  • Music miscelaneous:
    – “Your Neighborhood Orchestra.”     Video edition and concert streaming (2020). 
    – “Jewish Triangle Chorale.” Technology support (home sound and video recording) and video/sound editing for streamed concerts during lockdown (2020). 
    – Adult Day Care Center “Centro de Día Amanecer.” Recreational Music Weekly Workshop for elderly, disabled, and/or mentally ill people (2015/2016). 
    – Hey Mozart! Orchestral arrangements of melodies (2010). 
    – Greensboro Symphonic Orchestra. Orchestral arrangement of melody (2019/20)
  • Copyist:
    –     Orchestral Score of “Entelequias” by Pablo Rubino (2015). Notate manuscripts of a large orchestral piece to Sibelius. The job included non-traditional writing. 
    – Musical examples for Doctoral Dissertation “El estilo musical de Charly García desde 1972 hasta 1996” by Diego Madoery (2016). Graphics on notation software from excerpts given by the author. The job included aural transcription of most of the excerpts. 
    – Project Hey Mozart! (2019). Make and proofread the parts of four orchestral arrangements.
  • English
  • Spanish
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