An outstanding composer and conductor, Alberto Grau (1938) has earned a place among the best Venezuelan contemporary musicians. Well-known for his work as Choir Conductor, Alberto Grau has become however one of the leaders of choral composition in Latin America. A number of his works has been published by Earthsongs (USA), Oxford University Press (England); A Coeur Joie (France), Kjos Music (USA) and GGM Editores (Venezuela). He permanently gets commissions from all over the world.
He studied with the most important Venezuelan maestros: Vicente Emilio Sojo, Angel Sauce, Juan Bautista Plaza and Gonzalo Castellanos. Alberto Grau has won three times the National Prize of Music “José Angel Montero” in Venezuela. His ballet La Doncella for mixed choir, narrator and chamber ensemble was awarded First Prize in the “International Day of Choral Singing” Competition in 1978 in Barcelona, Spain. His piece “Cinco Canciones Infantiles basadas en la poesía popular El San Pedro” won in 1997 the Premio Fama of the Polar Foundation. In 1999, his piece “Opereta Ecológica en Cuatro Actos” got the Composition and Choral Expression Prize (6th Edition) awarded by the Government of The Canaries.
Over 30 recordings evidence his fine musicality and extensive knowledge on the international choral repertoire. In 1967, Grau founded the Schola Cantorum of Caracas and won First Prize in the International Contest Guido D’Arezzo in 1974, Italy. He also founded the Orfeón Universitario Simón Bolívar. For thirty years, he has taught choral conducting at different institutions: Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales and the Universidad Simón Bolívar en Caracas and Head of Division of Choral-Symphony Arrangements of FESNOJIV. He was vice-president of the International Federation for Choral Music between 1982 and 1996.
Recently, he has devoted himself to the projects “Construir Cantando”, “Acción Social por la Música” and “Voces Andinas a Coro”, which are important educational enterprises that have a great impact on thousands of children and teenagers of Latin America.
He also participated with the Pequeños Cantores de Los Andes and the Schola Juvenil de Venezuela at the 2007 and 2008 Polyfollia Festival, offering concerts in several cities of Normandy (France) and the Rikskonserter of Stockholm (Sweden) within the framework of the 90th anniversary of Eric Ericson. In 2008, his Salve al Celeste Sol Sonoro is premiered at the World Sun Songs festival. Alberto was awarded the 2008 XX Premios “J.M. Batista i Roca” in Barcelone (Spain) by the Institut de Projecció Exterior de la Cultura Catalana (IPECC) as a recognition to Catalonian citizens and foreigners that have helped disseminating Catalonian culture internationally. In 2009, he wrote “La balada del retorn” under commission of L’Auditori of Barcelone. It was premiered in 2010 in Spain and in Caracas (Venezuela) within the framework of Cantania. In July 2010, homage was paid to Alberto on the occasion of the International Singing Week in Vic, Barcelona.