Born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1965, Alfonso Tenreiro entered the world of music studying organ. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in composition.
Tenreiro’s works have received awards and recognition from ASCAP, Indiana University, Contemporary Record Society, New York Youth Symphony Orchestra, the World Harp Congress, Bowling Green University and the American Composers Orchestra. His composition Sacred Symphony won the Venezuelan National Composition Award in 1998 and the Utah Music Art Festival Award in 1999.
Tenreiro’s music has developed as a personal response to the conflict of styles that took place during the 20th Century. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Tenreiro synthesized atonal, polyrhythmic and polytonal techniques with romantic and classical elements.
In the mid 90s, his musical creation evolved, and he elected to write in a harmonic language rooted in Romanticism. This decision has allowed him to discover vast areas of tonality that were not explored in his earlier works.
