Joseph Julian Gonzalez

Joseph Julián González is an American composer based in Los Angeles, California. Working primarily as a composer for television and film, he also composes for live orchestra and choir performance.

Joseph Julián González
OccupationFilm and television composer
Years active1995–present

Education

Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, the son of former farm worker parents,[1] González began his musical education at California State University, Bakersfield, where he studied under Dr. Doug Davis, professor of composition and director of CSUB's Jazz Ensemble. Davis encouraged González to apply for a scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles, to complete his undergraduate degree, where he majored in classical guitar performance and composition for motion picture.[2] While at UCLA, González studied under David Raksin. He has also studied under Elaine Barkin, Roger Bourland, John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, and Thomas Newman.

Career

Early career

After finishing his education at UCLA, González toured with the New Christy Minstrels, and then became music director for Luis Valdez' El Teatro Campesino.[3]

Film and television

González' first televised composition was the PBS broadcast of La Pastorela as part of its Great Performances program. La Pastorela was initially a production of El Teatro Campesino, a Christmas pageant set in a Tex-Mex milieu, featuring Linda Ronstadt, Lupe Ontiveros, Paul Rodriguez and Cheech Marin.[4] Since then, González' compositions have been featured in over 200 films, documentaries, and television programs.[5] Some of the most prominent of his compositions for film and television include Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown and Curdled, the Academy Award-nominated documentary Colors Straight Up, Lifetime Television's feature-length Little Girl Lost, and the entire run of the Showtime series Resurrection Blvd. His work in the documentary world includes composing soundtracks for the Emmy Award-winning Made in L.A., as well as other award-winning documentaries, including Angels in the Dust, Steal a Pencil for Me, and Cowboy del Amor.

Misa Azteca

In 1997, as part of the Meet the Composer program, González was commissioned to write his Misa Azteca, which debuted on Dec. 4, 1997, at the Tijuana Cultural Center (Centro Cultural de Tijuana) performed by the Orquesta de Baja California, the Southwestern College Choir of Chula Vista, California, and Tribu, a four-piece pre-Columbian percussion ensemble from Mexico City.[6] On July 9, 2006, the Gloria from Misa Azteca was performed in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. On June 18, 2009, the Sanctus from Misa Azteca was performed in Paris, France, at the Basilica of St. Denis, performed by the Hispanic Choir of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels from Los Angeles, California, conducted by Antonio Espinal.[7] Misa Azteca was also performed at the Sorbonne and the American Cathedral in Paris (Episcopal). Selections of Misa Azteca were subsequently performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Feb. 20, 2011.[8] Members of the L.A. Philharmonic performed Misa Azteca June 19, 2011, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.[9] Misa Azteca was scheduled to be again performed as part of the Festival of the Aegean on July 10 and 11, 2013, on the island of Syros, Greece.[10]

Misa Azteca is a musical composition which combines Spanish and Latin texts of the Roman Catholic liturgy with songs from the Cantares Mexicanos, the largest collection of pre-Columbian Nahuatl songs or poems to have been recorded. González was influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor, and in the manner of Stravinsky and Orff sought to create a "similar [blend] of old and new," giving the piece "a neo-Baroque flavor."[11]

Films

TitleYearNotes
Curdled1996
Colors Straight Up1997Feature documentary
Jackie Brown1997Song from the feature soundtrack: "Chicks Who Love Guns"
Chuck & Buck2000Song from the feature soundtrack: "Bittersweet"
Price of Glory2000
Cowboy del Amor2005Feature documentary
Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields and Crossroads2006Feature documentary
Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano2006Feature documentary
Steal a Pencil for Me2007Feature documentary
Angels in the Dust2007Feature documentary
Made in L.A.2007Feature documentary
Chevolution2008Feature documentary
The Washingtons of Sulgrave Manor2011Feature documentary
S.O.S./State of Security2011Feature documentary
Children of Giant2014Feature documentary (filming)

Television

TitleYearNotes
Great Performances1991TV movie
For the Love of My Child: The Anissa Ayala Story1993TV movie
The Cisco Kid1994TV movie
Lifestories: Families in Crisis1994TV series, episode: POWER: The Eddie Matos Story
Chicano! History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement1996TV documentary
Foto Novelas: Seeing Through Walls1997TV short
Foto Novelas: In the Mirror1997TV short
Foto Novelas: The Fix1997TV short
Searching for San Diego: San Ysidro1997TV documentary
Adventures from the Book of Virtues1997TV series, 6 episodes
Reyes y Rey1998TV series
The Border1999TV documentary
Resurrection Blvd.2000TV series
The Forgotten Americans2000TV documentary
Visiones: Latino Art and Culture2004TV mini-series documentary
Cinco de Mayo2004TV documentary
Survival in the Weave2006TV short
P.O.V.2007TV documentary series, episode: Made in L.A.
Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story2008TV movie
One Hot Summer2009TV movie
Los Americans2011TV series
We Have Your Husband2011TV movie
Rebel2012TV documentary
Meddling Mom2013TV movie

Short films and other works

TitleYearNotes
How Else Am I Supposed To Know I'm Still Alive1991Short film
Pepino Mango Nance1996Documentary short
Echoes from Juniper Canyon2004Short
Rendezvous2005Short film
Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat: The Theater of War2005Video documentary short
Discovering Eloy Torres2009Documentary short
Rebel2012Video documentary (post-production)

References

  1. Scher, Valerie (Dec 4, 1997). "A 'Gift' of the Road". San Diego Union Tribune.
  2. Fields, Breanna. "Finding Fame: Joseph Julian Gonzalez". Bakersfield Life. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  3. "Panel member bio". CalStateLA.edu. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  4. ""Great Performances" La pastorela". IMDb.com. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  5. Fields, Breanna. "Finding Fame: Joseph Julian Gonzalez". Bakersfield Life. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  6. Scher, Valerie (Dec 4, 1997). "A 'Gift' of the Road". San Diego Union Tribune.
  7. Delacroix, André (19 June 2007). "CHOEUR DES ANGES ; BASILIQUE ET LÉGION D'HONNEUR". ResMusica: musique classique et danse. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  8. Fields, Breanna. "Finding Fame: Joseph Julian Gonzalez". Bakersfield Life. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  9. "Conductor Bio of Guido Lamell". Santa Monica Symphony. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  10. "Festival of the Aegean website". Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  11. Scher, Valerie (Dec 4, 1997). "A 'gift' of the road". San Diego Union Tribune.
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