Escobar, Luis Antonio (1925–1993)

Luis Antonio Escobar (b. 14 July 1925; d. 11 September 1993), Colombian composer and diplomat. Born in Villapinzón, Escobar studied at the Bogotá Conservatory (1940–1947). In 1947 he received a scholarship to study with Nicholas Nabokov at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. He attended composition courses at New York's Columbia University (1950–1951) and took classes with Boris Blacher at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik (1951–1953) and the Salzburg Mozarteum (1951). Upon his return to his native land he was named secretary of the National Conservatory, where he taught harmony, composition, and instrumentation. Escobar received several awards, including the National Prize (1955) for his Sinfonía Cero and two Guggenheim fellowships. In 1960 the New York City Ballet commissioned his Preludios para percusión. Escobar presented his Pequeña sinfonía at the Third Latin American Music Festival, held in Washington, D.C., in May 1965. He was appointed director of musical programs for television in Colombia and served on the national board of the Colombian National Orchestra. He was also chairman of the National Music Council and director of the cultural division of the Ministry of National Education. Escobar also served as consul (1964–1966) and second secretary (1967–1970) of the Colombian embassy in Bonn, West Germany. He died in Miami while serving as Colombia's cultural chargé d'affaires.

See alsoMusic: Art Music; Radio and Television.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Composers of the Americas, vol. 8 (1962), pp. 65-70.

John Vinton, ed., Dictionary of Contemporary Music (1974).

Gérard Béhague, Music in Latin America (1979); New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 6 (1980).

                                           Susana Salgado