about me
Mexican/Canadian composer.
Writes music for live performances, electronic music, and sometimes for films.
Teaches composition, music theory, and instrumentation in Vancouver.
Plays guitar in a band.
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I was born in Mexico City and have lived in Vancouver, British Columbia since 2003. I write music for concerts, electronic music, and sometimes music for media, like film and for podcasts.
Recent highlights in my career include a number of commissions, including one in collaboration with the McGregor-Verdejo Duo to set Ant and Bee Poem by Joy Kogawa premiered in November of 2025 at the Modulus Festival in Vancouver. Another recent commission came from the Vancouver Academy of Music for a new string orchestra work called Ocean Black.
In addition to working on commissions, I also record and release my own music, and in 2024 I released an album of piano music Before the World Sleeps that was performed by pianist Miranda Wong.
The music I write is sometimes difficult to categorize as each individual composition is sometimes written for a very specific purpose or instance. Over my career, I have created incidental electronic music for promenade theatre, brass orchestra music for dance troupe, and site-specific music for 18 electric guitars for the atrium of the Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library. Writing music for this variety and range of opportunities has been a very powerful source of creative fuel.
Having extraordinary artists perform and engage with my music is also another rewarding aspectsof composing, and I've had the privilege to work with some exceptional talent like Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, composer/songwriter Gabriel Kahane, dancer and choreographer Margie Gillis, and Vancouver indie legend Veda Hille. I also get to collaborate frequently with incredible artists and Canadian treasures that I consider great friends, like pianist Miranda Wong, poet Colin Browne and flautist Mark Takeshi McGregor.
I have also been able to have my work performed by a number of really wonderful ensembles that I admire. These include the NYO Canada, Standing Wave Ensemble, Hyvinkää Orchestra, Turning Point Ensemble, Orchestre de la Francophonie, musica intima vocal ensemble, the Victoria Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and most recently the Nova Era Vocal Ensemble in Lisbon.
In 2010 I graduated from the UBC School of Music where I wrote a string quartet for my doctoral dissertation based on the idea of impermanent large-scale form. My ideas during this time focused on theories that music changes every time we listen to it, and so I created a quartet that had multiple orderings, 720 to be precise, as a way of emphasizing this notion that music is different every time it's heard. Shortly after graduating I became the inaugural composer in residence at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC (2011-2014), and became an Associate Composer with the Canadian Music Centre.
My work in film scoring has been varied, and I recently received a Western Canadian Music Award Nomination for 2022 Media Composer of the Year for the film Chained. One early film score back in 2006 won Best Film Score prize at the NexT International Film Festival Awards in Bucharest for my score in the acclaimed short films of director Jamie Travis.
Over the last few years I have been playing guitar in the Vancouver-based avant-rock band called Sqware, and produce and perform as Ghost Shepherd, a music project with my partner, writer Alisen Santa Ana.
Most recently, in June of 2025, I travelled to Portugal to hear my piece choral work The River of Hellos and Goodbyes as an International Jury Selection to the 2025 ISCM World New Music Days in Portugal, and on April 8, 2025 I had an evening-length concert produced by Vancouver's Music on Main titled, One Night Stand: Alfredo Santa Ana.
In 2023 I joined the faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music, to teach composition and post-tonal music theory, and in 2026 I became an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia's School of Music teaching instrumentation.
If you want to reach me send me an email at asa(at)alfredosantaana.ca
Read more...
I was born in Mexico City and have lived in Vancouver, Canada since 2003 where I write concert music, electronic music, and sometimes film music.
Some recent highlights in my career include a number of commissions from the Canada Council for the Arts, from the McGregor-Verdejo Duo to set Ant and Bee Poem by Joy Kogawa, from the Vancouver Academy of Music for a new string orchestra work called Ocean Black, and the release of an album of piano music, Before the World Sleeps performed by Miranda Wong.
The music I write is sometimes difficult to categorize as each individual composition is sometimes written for a very specific instance. I've created incidental electronic music for promenade theatre, brass orchestra music for dance troupe, and site-specific music for 18 electric guitars for the atrium of the Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library. Writing music for this variety and range of opportunities has been a very powerful source of creative fuel.
Having extraordinary artists perform and engage with my music is one of the most rewarding aspects of composing, and I've had the privilege to work with some exceptional talent like Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, composer/songwriter Gabriel Kahane, dancer and choreographer Margie Gillis, and Vancouver indie legend Veda Hille. I also get to collaborate frequently with incredible artists and Canadian treasures that I consider great friends, like pianist Miranda Wong, poet Colin Browne and flautist Mark Takeshi McGregor.
I have also been able to have my work performed by a number of really wonderful ensembles that I admire. These include the NYO Canada, Standing Wave Ensemble, Hyvinkää Orchestra, Turning Point Ensemble, Orchestre de la Francophonie, musica intima vocal ensemble, the Victoria Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and most recently the Nova Era Vocal Ensemble.
In 2010 I graduated from formal training in the tradition of European Western music at the University of British Columbia where I wrote a string quartet for my doctoral dissertation based on the idea of impermanent large-scale form. Shortly after graduating, I became the inaugural composer in residence at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC (2011-2014), and also became an Associate Composer with the Canadian Music Centre.
My work in film scoring has been varied, and I recently received a Western Canadian Music Award Nomination for 2022 Media Composer of the Year for the film Chained. An early work in 2006 won Best Film Score prize at the NexT International Film Festival Awards in Bucharest for my score in the early films of acclaimed director Jamie Travis.
Over the last few years I have been playing guitar in the Vancouver-based avant-rock band called Square, and produce and perform as Ghost Shepherd, a music project with my partner, writer Alisen Santa Ana.
Most recently, in June of 2025, I travelled to Portugal to hear my piece choral work The River of Hellos and Goodbyes as an International Jury Selection to the 2025 ISCM World New Music Days in Portugal, and on April 8, 2025 I had an evening-length concert produced by Vancouver's Music on Main titled, One Night Stand: Alfredo Santa Ana.
In 2023 I joined the faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music, to teach composition and post-tonal music theory, and in 2026 I became an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia School of Music teaching instrumentation.
If you want to reach me you can send me email me at asa(at)alfredosantaana.ca