Juan Sebastián Lach Lau (Mexico City, 1970)

Began his musical career playing piano and keyboards in the experimental jazz band Psicotrópicos and later in rock band Santa Sabina with whom he recorded 6 CD’s and made multiple tours. He studied Mathematics at the National University in Mexico City. Later he obtained a Bachelor’s in Composition in CIEM, Mexico and an advanced degree in classical piano. He has the degree of Bachelor’s (2003) and Master’s (2005) in Composition from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands, with a specialization in Sonology supported by FONCA, Mexico. Presently pursuing a PhD in Artistic Research from Leiden University and Orpheus Institute in Ghent, Belguim. His music has been played by Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Ensemble Royaal, Muse, Soil, Insomnio, The Barton Workshop, Modelo 62 and The Electronic Hammer among others. His composition teachers have been: Juan Trigos, Víctor Rasgado and Ignacio Baca-Lobera in Mexico; Gilius van Bergeijk, Clarence Barlow, Martijn Padding and Louis Andriessen in Holland. He teaches at the Electronic Studio of the Composition Department at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

Piece: Pantaleón

Talk: Compositional applications of dissonance curves

In this talk I will describe my recent work on roughness analysis and some of its uses in making microtonal music. The research is at an early stage but it already poses interesting problems regarding the definitions and boundaries between timbre, harmony and texture in music composition.

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