Award-winning Colombian composer & author (AWA), Julián De La Chica is a multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY. His influences range from minimalism and post-minimalism to the alternative electronic scene. Often inspired by everyday images, De La Chica’s work juxtaposes the search for spiritual reflection with an awareness of humanity’s inner darkness. Most of his pieces mix piano, strings, and/or classical singers with electronic keyboards and controllers, extending across the genres of classical, ambient, and electronic music. De La Chica’s compositions have been recorded by artists around the world, and his discography includes six solo albums and fourteen collaborative projects. His work has been featured on “Spotify's Classical New Releases” playlist worldwide and has also premiered in different venues, including Carnegie Hall.
As a pianist, De La Chica has performed in venues ranging from iconic concert halls to conventional classical stages and electronic music bars. His U.S. debut, which came at the invitation of then, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) and former President of Colombia César Gaviria Trujillo, was a 2003 performance at the OAS headquarters in Washington DC. In 2016, he made his debut at Carnegie Hall, premiering a selection of his own piano works. He has been a Baldwin Piano Company artist since 2009 and currently plays the custom—designed Baldwin: Heavy Metal Piano.
A founding member of the independent record label Irreverence Group Music [IGM], De La Chica lives in Brooklyn, NY, with his family and cat.
TheBeginning + TheBeginning
De La Chica started his musical career within the classical tradition. He began studying piano at age five and later completed the pre-college music program at the University of Caldas in his hometown of Manizales. During these early years, he developed a keen affinity for Baroque composers and symphonic sound. In 2000, De La Chica moved to Bogotá and enrolled in the music program at the National University of Colombia, although a semester later he dropped out after receiving an invitation to give a recital in Rome. Uncomfortable with the traditionalist outlook of music schools and eager to explore new interests and new music, he decided to stay in Europe and not continue his formal education at a conservatory.
After spending five months immersed in Italian culture, De La Chica moved to Spain. Interested in spirituality and philosophy, he studied the humanities in Salamanca, as well as philosophy and metaphysics in Madrid. Later, he moved to Bad Münstereifel, Germany, and undertook self-guided studies in classical languages, classical literature, and music composition. During this period, he composed pieces and wrote essays about music, philosophy, and spirituality that were inspired by his readings of Garrigou-Langrange and Teresa de Avila.
Music + Image
De La Chica’s longtime mantra is, “I make music with what I see”. His obsession with the relationship between imagery and music led to a growing interest in film, along with experimental visual projects and installations. Following his 2008 move to New York City, he began frequently collaborating with directors, photographers, and videographers. In 2017, De La Chica won the Best Original Score award at the London Independent Film Awards for the short film Margaret, directed by Lebanese filmmaker Badr Farha. The 2018 film Honor Up, directed by Damon Dash, includes seven works composed by De La Chica.
In 2020, De La Chica debuted as a director with the experimental film Agatha, an exploration of solitude based in part on his short story, Voyeuristic Images, and his piano cycle of the same title. Agatha premiered at the prestigious Bogota Film Festival, winning Special Mention – Best International Film. To date, the film has been officially selected by more than thirty international film festivals and has won eighteen awards, including Best Picture, Best LGBTQ Film, Best Cinematography, Best Soundtrack, and Best Actor. A reviewer for the Rome Prisma Film Awards described Agatha as “an elegant, original, poetic film that touches us with delicacy,” calling De La Chica “an author to follow.”
In 2021, responding to the tragic stories he read in the New York Times about the Latino community in Queens (epicenter of the pandemic in New York), De La Chica paid tribute to them in his follow-up movie, Dora. The film tells the story of a young aspiring hairdresser from Colombia who, now living in Queens, suddenly faces the grim uncertainties and isolation of a global pandemic. The film reflects De La Chica’s ongoing interest in experimentation while brilliantly incorporating selections from his album Silencios Fatuos Op. 16. He lets the deeply nuanced music speak for itself in this thirty-minute snapshot of love and sexuality, loss and despair. Dora, which will premiere for audiences in 2024, has been selected in twenty six international film festivals and has won thirteen awards, including Best LGBTQ Film, Best Experimental film, Best composer, and Best Actress. The film also was Semi-Finalist at the prestigious Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival. A reviewer for the Falcon International Film Festival in London, described Dora “a winner” and “an artistic triumph and an emotional story at its heart,” saying De La Chica “has made a potent film, one that works on several levels simultaneously” and calling the film “visually poignant, thematically relevant and artistically creative.”
Book + Opera
In June of 2022, De La Chica released his first book, God’s Punishment. The novel is set in the remote Colombian town of Agua de Dios, a mass leprosarium run by the Colombian government during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The product of two decades of investigative work by De La Chica, God’s Punishment highlights the human rights abuses of this dark chapter in Colombia’s history. As psychiatrist Dainius Pūras, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, has written, “books like God’s Punishment are vitally needed in these times,” as De La Chica “reminds and warns us of what can happen when human rights are taken away from people.” An opera of the same title, composed by De La Chica, is in its final creative stages.
God's Punishment won the AWA (Award-Winning Author) award for Best Novel - Historical Fiction - English, and it has also received an Honorable Mention for Best LGBTQ+ Theme Book at the 25th edition of the International Latino Book Awards 2023 (ILBA). During the award ceremony at Los Angeles City College in LA, the book received the Silver Medal under its category.
The awards featured a competitive pool of over 3,000 submissions from around the world, which were meticulously assessed by a panel of 220 jurors.
Luis A. Calvo + Intermezzos
To safeguard the historical memory, not only of Agua de Dios but also of the composer Luis Antonio Calvo (who died in Agua de Dios), De La Chica curated a project that would unite Calvo's four intermezzos for the very first time. The culmination of this endeavor came to fruition when NY-based Cuban pianist Ahmed Alom included these captivating pieces on his highly anticipated debut studio album, Exilio. This collaborative effort not only safeguards the rich historical tapestry of Agua de Dios but also celebrates the profound artistic contributions of Luis Antonio Calvo, ensuring that his musical legacy endures for future generations.
