Felipe Perez-Santiago Biography
2024/2025 Season Biography
Felipe Pérez Santiago is considered one of the most active and recognized composers on the international music scene. He has received numerous awards and recognitions in Europe, the United States, Asia, and Latin America. These include the Kronos Quartet composition prize in the USA, the electronic music prize in Bourges, France, the music for dance competition by the Onassis Foundation in Greece, the Betty J. Meyers grant in Washington, and the National Gugak Center grant in Korea. He has also won a platinum album in Mexico, the Best Music Award at the Miami Film Festival, and many international grants.
Felipe holds diplomas and master’s degrees from prestigious institutions: the Center for Research and Musical Studies (CIEM) in Mexico, the Royal Schools of Music in London, and the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands.
In Mexico, he is an honorary member of the National System of Art Creators. He represented his country at the UNESCO International Composers Rostrum and was recognized by the Mexico City cultural website as one of the seven most recognized national artists worldwide. In 2021, he received the Trajectory Award from the Composers Society of Mexico (SACM) for his 25 years of uninterrupted and successful career as a composer. In 2023, he was appointed as a Cultural Ambassador of the Global Network of Learning Cities in recognition of his work with children and youth orchestras.
He is the founder and artistic director of Mal’Akh Ensemble and the Vórtice Ensemble and Orchestra, both of which feature flexible instrumentation that blends chamber music with various musical genres. Through these projects, he has toured extensively, recorded, and received numerous grants and accolades. Additionally, he serves as the musical director of ONIX Ensemble, the oldest ongoing contemporary music ensemble in Latin America. Felipe is also the musical director and conductor of the Estudios Churubusco Orchestra, overseeing all film music projects and new music recordings at this historic Latin American institution.
Felipe’s music has been commissioned and performed in over 40 countries, appearing in some of the world’s most prestigious theaters, concert halls, and festivals. His works are featured in more than 30 discographic productions worldwide, encompassing orchestral pieces, operas, chamber music, solo works, electronic compositions, and music for film, dance, video, and multimedia installations. He has also been invited as a resident composer, teacher, and guest lecturer at conservatories, universities, and institutions across the globe.
In addition, Felipe is an artist-in-residence at the SETI Institute in California, where he founded and directed The Earthling Project. This project gathered human voices from around the world, creating a sonic legacy of humanity, which was embedded on a disc created by The Arch Mission Foundation and launched into space on January 8, 2024, as part of the Peregrine mission by Astrobotic in collaboration with NASA, and on February 22, 2024, the project landed on the Moon with the Odysseus lander, as part of the Artemis mission.