Orlando Jacinto Garcia
Orlando Jacinto Garcia is a Cuban-American composer whose more than 200 works span orchestral, choral, chamber, solo, electroacoustic, site-specific, and interdisciplinary forms. Known for his “time-suspended sonic explorations,” Garcia’s music reflects the influence of Morton Feldman and has been performed at major festivals and venues across the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and beyond.
He has received major fellowships and residencies from the Fulbright Program (Venezuela, Spain), Rockefeller Foundation (Bellagio, Rome), Civitella Ranieri, MacDowell, Bogliasco, and Sirius Arts Centre, among others. His music has been premiered by leading ensembles including the New World Symphony, Simon Bolivar Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, MISO, and Juilliard’s Continuum Ensemble, with performances spanning Carnegie Hall to the Biennale Zagreb.
Garcia is widely recognized for his interdisciplinary and site-specific work, frequently collaborating with poets, video artists, choreographers, and architects. His experimental video opera transcending time, created with poet Campbell McGrath and video artists Jacek Kolasinski and John Stuart, premiered at the Biennale in Zagreb. Other notable collaborations include commissions from the Vizcaya Museum, Faena Forum, and the Knight Foundation that explore environmental themes through immersive multimedia experiences combining live instruments, fixed media, architecture, and movement.
Recent premieres include orchestral, electroacoustic, and chamber works performed by ensembles such as The Florida Orchestra, the Lviv Philharmonic, the Latin American String Quartet, and Duo Duplum, with soloists including violinists Jennifer Choi and Mari Kimura, bass clarinetist Harry Sparnaay, pianist Kathleen Supové, and clarinetist Michael Norsworthy. His music continues to be featured at leading festivals and institutions such as the International Computer Music Conference, SEAMUS, Spring in Havana, and the Foro Internacional de Música Nueva.
Garcia’s works have been nominated for five Latin Grammys in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category. In 2022, he received the Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which includes publication by CF Peters. His recordings appear on over a dozen labels including New Albion, Toccata Classics, Innova, Albany, and Metier/Divine Arts, with featured performers such as Jennifer Choi, Cristina Valdes, and the Amernet String Quartet.
A prominent figure in contemporary music, Garcia is the founder and director of the New Music Miami ISCM Festival, NODUS Ensemble, and the Miami Section of ISCM, and currently serves as Distinguished University Professor and Composer in Residence at Florida International University.
For new commissions, performance inquiries, curatorial opportunities and appearances please contact Owen Summers: owen@summersartistservices.com
Selected Works
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la naturaleza se levanta (nature rises) (2025)
Orchestration: 2.2.2.2—2.2.0.0—Perc—Str
Duration: 17 minutes
Premiere: September 12, 2025, Qrquesta Sinfonica de La Serena with conductor Rodolfo Saglimbeni, La Serena, ChileUnder exclusivity until September 30, 2025
the impending silence (el silencio inminente) (2019)
Orchestration: 3.3.2.3—4.3.3.1—2 perc—2 Hp—Pf—Str
Duration: 6 minutes
Premiere: January 18, 2020, The Florida Orchestra with conductor Michael Francis, Orlando, Floridaof wind, sea, and light (2016)
Orchestration: 2.2.2.2—2.2.2.0—Perc—Str
Duration: 14 minutesListen | Submit Rental Request
music for a child’s story (the boy and the magical flower) (2015)
Orchestration: 2.2.2.2—2.2.2.1—Perc—Str
Duration: 4 minutesAlso available in a version for chamber orchestra. (1.1.1.1—1.1.1.1—Perc—Str)
towards the light: into the numinous (2013)
Orchestration: String Quartet—2.2.2.2—4.3.2.1—3 Perc—Pf—Str
Duration: 19 minutesel viento distante (the distant wind) (2012)
Orchestration: Solo Bb Clarinet—2.2.2.2—2.2.2.1—Perc—Hp—Pf—Str
Duration: 15 minutesin memoriam Earle Brown (2010)
Orchestration: 2.2.2.2—4.3.2.1—3 Perc—Pf—Str
Duration: 20 minutesListen | Submit Rental Request
vedute sonore da Bellagio (1999)
Orchestration: 3.3.3.3—4.3.3.1—Perc—Pf—Str
Duration: 19 minutesListen | Submit Rental Request
sombras iluminadas (1997)
Orchestration: 3.3.3.3—4.3.3.1—Perc—Hp—Str
Duration: 18 minutesListen | Submit Rental Request
canciones en la distancia (1995)
Orchestration: Solo Gtr—2.2.2.2—4.2.2.1—2 perc—Hp—Pf—Str
Duration: 18 minutesAuschwitz (nunca se olvidaran) (1994)
Orchestration: SATB Choir—1.1.1.0—2.1.1.0—Perc—Pf—Str
Duration: 18 minutesListen | Submit Rental Request
cuatro navegantes (1994)
Orchestration:
Duration: 16 minutesvoces celestiales (celestial voices) (1993)
Orchestration: 2 Solo Cb—2.2.2.2—4.2.2.0—Perc—Str
Duration: 18 minutesVaradero memories (recuerdos) (1988)
Orchestration: 2.3.3.2—4.3.2.1—Perc—Hp—Str
Duration: 15 minutes -
images of wind, rain, and crystalized sound (2021)
Orchestration: Solo Gtr—1.1.1.0—1.0.0.0—Pf—Str
Duration: 22 minutesthe clouds receding into the mountains (2017)
Orchestration: Solo Vla—1.1.1.1—1.1.1.0—Pf—Perc—Str
Duration: 20 minutesfrom darkness to luminosity (2015)
Orchestration: Solo Pf—1.1.1.1—1.1.1.0—Perc—Str
Duration: 16 minutesListen | Submit Rental Request
fragmented patterns (2015)
Orchestration: Solo Violin, Solo Violin/Viola—1.1.1.1—0.0.0.0—Perc—Str
Duration: 16 minutes -
prohibido (prohibided) (2024)
scenes from an imaginary balletOrchestration: String Orchestra
Duration: 21 minutes
Premiere: January 26, 2025, New World Symphony with conductor Aram Demirjian, choreographer Ariel Rose, and dancers Lucy Nevin and Alexander Kaden from Miami City BalletComposed for the strings of the New World Symphony Orchestra, prohibido (“prohibited” in Spanish) is a reimagining of the composer’s earlier string quartet I Never Saw Another Butterfly, written in memory of the children of Terezin. Featuring original English and Spanish text recited by the performers, the piece reflects on global repression—past and present—rooted in race, religion, identity, and power. Premiered with choreography by Ariel Rose for dancers from Miami City Ballet, the work continues the composer’s exploration of slow-evolving textures and the shifting perception of time.
Submit Rental Inquiries to Edition Peters / Wise Music Groupfragmented images (imágenes fragmentados) (2020)
Orchestration: Solo Vln, Solo Vla—Str
Duration: 21 minutesa return to fragmentation and the use of negative space (2017)
Orchestration: Solo Vlc—Str
Duration: 13 minutesascending into the eternal light (ascendiendo hacia la luz eterna) (2016)
Orchestration: String Orchestra (66442; 44442 possible, Havana Festival version 44421)
Duration: 14 minutesuna marea creciente (a rising tide) (2014)
Orchestration: Solo Vln—Str
Duration: 14 minutesListen | Submit Rental Request
the distant wind II (2013)
Orchestration: Solo Cl—Str
Duration: 15 minutesasimetría (1997)
Orchestration: String Orchestra
Duration: 12 minutes
Premiere:una luz en la neblina distante (1993)
Orchestration: Solo Ob—Str
Duration: 15 minutes
For complete works list, please click here.