Carlos Chavez photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Carlos Antonio de Padua Ch vez y Ram rez (June 13, 1899 - August 2, 1978) was a Mexican composer, conductor, teacher, journalist, and the founder and director of the Mexico Symphony Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No. 2, which uses native Yaqui percussion instruments, is probably the most popular.
His paternal grandfather Jos Mar a Ch vez, governor of Aguascalientes, Mexico, was ordered executed by Emperor Maximilian in 1864. His father, August n Ch vez, invented a plough that was produced and used in the United States. He died when Carlos was barely three years old. Carlos had his first piano lessons from his brother Manuel, and later on he was taught by Asunci n Parra, Manuel Ponce and Pedro Luis Ozag n, for piano, and later Juan Fuentes for harmony. His family often went on vacations to Tlaxcala, Michoac n, Guanajuato, Oaxaca and other places where the cultural influence of the Aztec aboriginals was still very strong.
In 1916, Ch vez and friends started a cultural journal, Gladios, and this led to Ch vez joining the staff of Mexico City's El Universal in 1924.
After the Mexican Revolution and the installation of a democratically elected president, , Ch vez became one of the first exponents of Mexican nationalist music with ballets on Aztec themes.
In 1922, Ch vez married Otilia Ortiz and they went on honeymoon to Europe, where he met Paul Dukas. After Europe, the couple vacationed in America, to which Ch vez returned in 1926 and stayed in New York until 1928. Upon his return to Mexico, Ch vez he became director of the Orquesta Sinf nica Mexicana (later renamed Orquesta Sinf nica de Mexico), Mexico's first permanent orchestra, started by a musicians' labor union Ch vez was instrumental in taking the orchestra on tour to Mexico's rural areas.
In 1928, Ch vez was appointed director of the Conservatorio Nacional de M sica, a position he held for six years. In that capacity, Ch vez spearheaded projects to collect aboriginal folk music.
After Arturo Toscanini left the NBC Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1938, Ch vez conducted a series of concerts with that orchestra. In 1940 he produced concerts at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
From 1947 to 1952, Ch vez was director general of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. In 1947, he formed the Orquesta Sinf nica Nacional, which supplanted the older OSM as Mexico's premier orchestra and led to the disbanding of the older ensemble. Throughout all this time, Ch vez maintained a busy international touring schedule.
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