VINICIO MEZA: Suite latinoamericano

by Michael Clive

Vinicio Meza is a Costa Rican clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and arranger of symphonic, chamber, jazz and salsa music. He began his music studies with his father, then attended the Municipal School of Music in his hometown Paraíso, Cartago, where he began his clarinet studies. He continued his music studies at Conservatorio de Castella. After his graduation, he studied for two years at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan.

Meza obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and his Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the Florida State University in Tallahassee. In Costa Rica, the Ministry of Culture has awarded him with the National Prize in Music Performance and the National Prize in Music Composition. ACAM (Composers and Authors Association of Costa Rica) has awarded him the “Prize for Arranger of the Year” and the “Prize for Composer of the Year” in formal music and the “Prize for Composer of the Year” in jazz. He is a member of the Costa Rica Symphony Orchestra and teaches Music Appreciation at the Costa Rica Institute of Technology.

A word of warning about Meza’s Suite Latinoamericano: Its dance rhythms and languorous melodic lines are extraordinarily seductive.