Cristian Amigo is one of the most popular and richest American composer who was born on January 2, 1963 in Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. Amigo was moved into New York City from LA in 2003 and swiftly established himself in the Latin music free improv “new music”, and the theater scene. A few of his latest projects include the production of twenty-five Years of New York New Music(innova Recordings) 10-CD collection that features New York new music composers (Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros, Annea Lockwood, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Fred Ho, Joan Tower, and 54 more) Three individual albums Cristian Amigo Live LA Sessions (BA Records), Kingdom of Jones (innova) and the Buzzy Garden (innova), and also collaborates in collaboration with Eve Beglarian, violinist Mary Rowell, ETHEL Lost Dog New Music Ensemble, Elliott Sharp, Dom Minasi, Miguel Frasconi, Hans Tammen, Corey Dargel, JACK Quartet, pianist Jenny Lin, Jason Hwang’s Spontaneous River Orchestra Izzi Ramkissoon’s Electric Eel Multimedia Ensemble, ARK Guitar Trio, choreographer Jill Sigman/thinkdance and librettists Royce Vavrek and Emily Conbere as well as Drummer Andrew Drury, drummer/composer Gustavo Aguilar and Gustavo Aguilar, the Guidonian Hand among many others.
Amigo’s career as an artist had an important breakthrough when he was doing studies on the completion of his Ph.D. at the University of New York City during the summer of 2001. He was enlisted for an appearance with Afro-Peruvian musician Carlos Hayre. Hayre asked Amigo to be the second guitar player. Amigo played with Hayre during a number of shows, including 2002’s World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles and the Brava Theater in San Francisco. Amigo was based within New York City, and awards soon followed. Amigo was given an Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition in 2006, as well as the Van Lier Fellowship from Meet the Composer. The year 2016-17 was the time that Amigo received the distinction of being the Fulbright Scholar for his artistic work. His work has been aided or produced by various organizations, such as The Brooklyn Philharmonic, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), New York City Opera, Jerome Foundation, American Composers Forum, New York State Music Fund, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Danish Arts Council, Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Yale Institute of Sacred Music, LAByrinth Theater Company, Boy Scouts of America, Jose Limon Dance Company The Sundance Institute’s Film Composer Labs, UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance (APPEX/Asian Pacific Performance Exchange), CSI (CUNY) Foundation, ASK Playwright/Composer Labs, Durfee Foundation, Teatro del Pueblo (Minneapolis), Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.), INTAR, Oslo Elsewhere, and the 24 Hour Plays. The film scores he composed were featured in festivals like the Sundance Film Festival and the Asian Pacific Film and Video Festival in Los Angeles.
Amigo started his career as professional artist in Miami when he was 14 years old. He attended Miami-Dade Community College with Vincent Bredice Lou Mowad along with George Aguiar while in High School. He performed in the top 40 bands and also worked as a session guitarist for records and jingles. He also collaborated with and played active in the local music scene alongside a number of future recognized artists (Alain Berge Narada Michael Walden Raul Malo Nil Lara Froilan “Fro” Sosa, Lee Levin, John Joseph). He relocated into LA after 1986 in pursuit of a career in music as well as a college education.
