Alba Quintanilla
Alba Quintanilla is a Venezuelan composer, harpist, harpsichordist, pianist, conductor, and pedagogue.
Quintanilla was born in Mérida, Mérida, and first studied music with her parents. Later she matriculated at the Escuela de Música José Ángel Lamas, where she studied piano, harp, harpsichord, composition, and conduction; her instructors there included Vicente Emilio Sojo, Raimundo Pereira, Juan Bautista Plaza, Gonzalo Castellanos Yumar, Evencio Castellanos, Cecilia de Majo, Evelia Taborda, Lidya Venturini, and Pablo Manelski. She also studied composition in Warsaw and Mannheim. Quintanilla was the first woman to conduct the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra. She has been active as a pedagogue throughout Venezuela, teaching in various conservatories and music schools. From 1985 until 1990 she was the director of the Escuela de Música Juan Manuel Olivares in Caracas; she has also served as director of the conservatory in Maracay. As a composer she has produced a number of cantatas and other vocal works, as well as chamber music, piano works, and choral pieces. Her music has won a number of awards and prizes throughout her career.
