The composer and guitarist Alejandro Cardona (Costa Rica, 1959) comes from an artistic, musical, and literary family: both his great-grandfather—and namesake—Alejandro Cardona Llorens and his grandfather Ismael Cardona Valverde were composers. He began playing various popular and traditional styles of music at a very young age. As a teenager, he studied composition with the Argentine composer Luis Jorge González. His higher education was completed at Harvard University (where he worked with Leon Kirchner, Ivan Tcherepnin, and Curt Cacioppo), the Utrecht School of the Arts (Master's degree), and the Faculty of Music of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Doctorate). Cardona has lived and worked since 1981 mainly between Costa Rica and Mexico. He was a professor of theory and composition at the National University of Costa Rica for 36 years. Currently, he works as an independent composer and as a producer of recordings of his music. He is active as an electric guitarist, performing his compositions with electronics.
As a composer, he has participated actively in international forums and festivals. His music has been performed and recorded in Latin America, North America, and Europe by renowned ensembles such as the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, the Cuarteto José White, the Lydian String Quartet, the Mexico City Woodwind Quintet, the Ónix Ensamble, the Entrequatre guitar quartet (Spain), Trío Puelli (Brazil), the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, the New Juilliard Ensemble (USA), the Experimental Orchestra of Native Instruments (Bolivia), the National Symphony Orchestras of Costa Rica, Mexico, El Salvador, and Colombia, the Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela, the Boston University ALEA III Ensemble, and the Heredia Symphony Orchestra, among others.
In 2000, he co-authored and published the second edition of the educational book, "¿Dónde está la Má Teodora?" (music reading based on Afro-American rhythmic principles). In 2019, he published three books: "Proceso creador, oficio y metáfora"; "De los principios musicales de la armonía tonal-funcional"; and "Reinventando nuestro oído, ensayos analíticos de música latinoamericana".
He has also composed music for dance (mainly in collaboration with his partner, the Costa Rican choreographer Vicky Cortés), theater (collaborating with the Costa Rican director Juan Fernando Cerdas), and film.
In Costa Rica, he is a four-time winner of the "Aquileo J. Echeverría" National Music Prize (1999, 2000, 2002, 2014) for his works "Códices", "Bajo Sombras", "En el eco de las paredes", and "Cantos Enterrados".
He is a full member of the Colegio de Compositores Latinoamericanos de Música de Arte and serves on the board of directors of the Heredia Symphony Orchestra, where he collaborates on various recording production projects.
Recent premieres include "Bataca Chimurenga" for drum set and chamber orchestra, and "Kumbes Kumba Kumbé" for percussion quartet and electronics. His orchestral work "Son Mestizo II" was featured on the Latin Grammy-winning album "Música de Compositores Costarricenses, Vol. 2", recorded by the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica. Recordings of his contemporary music can be heard via the following links.
General
Bataca chimurenga(2025-2026)
Dotación específicaBatería y orquesta de cámara
Duraciónfalta’
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Escombros. Cuarteto no. 13(2025)
Dotación específicaCuarteto de cuerdas
Duración15’
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Hasta las manitas. Seis pequeñas fantasías(2024-2025)
Dotación específicaCuarteto de guitarras (3 convencionales y una de ocho cuerdas)
Duración09’
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Cantos de resistencia II. Cadáveres anónimos(2024)
I. Pequeña fantasía 1 (sobre la Canción de cuna de mi abuelo Ismael Cardona) (02’); Pequeña fantasía 2 (sobre Canción de las viejas lunes de Sergio Aschero (03’); Pequeña fantasía 3 (sobre un canto infantil de mi abuela materna “Yayá” (01’); Pequeña fantasía 4 (sobre A child’s testimony de Curt Cacioppo) (02’); Ci - ci cinquanta. Pequeña fantasía 5 (recordando una balada) (02’); Pequeña fantasía 6 (sobre la canción Bigu ró, bigo huiini, de Margarita Chacón Angulo) (2025) (03’)
