Fonseca, Julio

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Fonseca, Julio

Fonseca, Julio, Costa Rican composer; b. San José, May 22, 1885; d. there, June 22, 1950. He received elementary musical training at home from his father, a military band musician. A government grant enabled him to pursue serious study at the Milan Cons, and in Brussels. Returning to Costa Rica, he became active as a teacher at music schools in San Jose and as a church organist. His works consist mostly of pleasant salon music for piano and effective band pieces, much of it based on native folk rhythms.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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