Beatriz Bilbao is a Venezuelan

Venezuelan people

Venezuelan people are from a multiethnic nation in South America called Venezuela. Venezuelans are predominantly Roman Catholic and speak Spanish, and a majority of them are the result of a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...

 composer. She was born in Caracas

Caracas

Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...

, Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, and studied piano with Judith James and Gerty Haas, composition with Modesta Bor

Modesta Bor

Modesta Bor was a Venezuela choir conductor, musicologist, teacher and composer. She was born in Juangriego and studied in Caracas with Elena Arrarte, Juan Bautista Plaza, Antonio Estévez, Maria de Lourdes Rotundo and Vicente Emilio Sojo, graduating with a degree in composition in 1959. She...

, and conducting with Alberto Grau and Gonzalo Castellanos in Venezuela. She continued her studies at Indiana University

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

 Music School with Frederick Fox

Frederick Fox

Frederick Fox was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman who played for Nottinghamshire. He was born in Nottingham and died in Beltinge, Herne Bay....

, Juan Orrego Salas and John Eaton

John Eaton (composer)

John Charles Eaton is an American composer , MacArthur Fellow, is professor emeritus of composition at the University of Chicago John Charles Eaton (born 30 March 1935 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) is an American composer (Anon. [n.d.]; Morgan 2001), MacArthur Fellow, is professor emeritus of...

 and at the New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 Conservatory of Music and the Cluj Napoca Conservatory in Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

.

After completing her studies, Bilbao worked as a composer and music teacher. In 1991 she took a teaching position at the Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales (IUDEM) in Caracas and from 2001–02 served as director of the Ministry of Culture's Prudencio Esáa Music School. Her music has been performed internationally.

Honors and awards

• 1995 Ramón Delgado Palacios National Prize for her piano work Secuencias Mestizas
• 1994 Munizipal Prizes for Trilogía Aborígen and Four Color Dances
• 1989 First Symphonic Composition Contest Seguros la Previsora prize for Concierto de las Tres Esferas

Works

Bilbao works with both electronic media and acoustic instruments, composing for orchestra, chamber ensembles, electroacustics, electronics, vocal and piano performance. Selected works include:

• Medaka
• Secuencias Mestizas III
• La Saeta 1995
• La Passionaria
• La Fiesta de San Juan
• Siete Luces for synthesizers and orchestra
• Triángulo Mágico for two synthesizers and symphonic orchestra, with Ricardo Teruel
• Trilogía Aborígen, vocal work
• Four Color Dances for piano
• Concierto de las Tres Esferas for two synthesizers and orchestra

Her music has been recorded and issued on CD, including:

• Espirales de Prana Label: sin contrato discográfico