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The Sphinx Catalog of Latin-American Viola Works

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The Sphinx Catalog of Latin American Viola Works, offered by Strings of Latin America and the Sphinx Organization, is the most comprehensive source of its category, with more than 1000 entries to date. The featured repertoire focuses on the music of Latin America that prominently features the viola solo repertoire, works for viola as a soloist with orchestra, duo repertoire with another instrument or electronic media, and viola ensemble. In addition, in consideration of the number of works written exclusively for viola, the catalog also offers a vast compilation of works for chamber music, in which the presence of the instrument is considered relevant and worthy due to the unique qualities of the musical language written and the sound of the instrument.

The catalog displays the information using the criteria of composers’ name, gender, country of origin, date of birth, the works’ title, date of composition, duration, instrumentation, and editions. The readers can find further information about composers by clicking on the composer’s name (in progress). Although the catalog does not grant specific details on purchasing scores, it facilitates the search of them, recordings, and other sources by compiling all of this information into one comprehensive resource. When using the database, please be sure to include any non-English symbols in your search (such as í, á, ã, ñ, etc.). Also, note that the information does not reflect any strict order as it is continuously updated. We, therefore, encourage users to carefully review search results until the very end of the list.

Strings of Latin America is delighted to share this catalog, prepared with the generous help of collaborators from all around the world and using multiple bibliographical sources. If you have relevant information that you want to convey, please email stringsoflatinamerica@gmail.com.

This catalog is based on original research by Dr. Jesús Alfonzo, who was inspired by the similar work created by his friend and colleague, cellist Dr. German Marcano. Dr. Alfonzo prepared this production as part of his sabbatical research at Stetson University, Deland, Florida, in 2008, then revised in 2017 and self-published in Venezuela in 2018. The project was revived later in 2020 in association with Strings of Latin America and the Sphinx Organization. It is addressed to introduce a new repertoire to the international community of violists, enhance the diversity and preparation of future performances and private teaching, and provide a concise and valuable source of information about Latin American composers.

Dr. Alfonzo, an internationally active violist and a renowned expert in the Latin American repertoire for viola, has joined forces with Dr. Natali Herrera-Pacheco, Dr. Horacio Contreras and the team of Strings of Latin America to expand the original search, which will be continually revised to reflect the ever-expanding nature of the viola music repertoire.