BIO

Ricardo Arbiza is a Uruguayan trombonist, composer, music technologist, and researcher based in New York since 2019.

As a performer, he has worked in a wide range of settings, from symphony orchestras such as the American Composers Orchestra, the Uruguayan National Symphony Orchestra, and the UN Symphony Orchestra to salsa bands, big bands, military bands, and pop groups touring throughout Latin America. In 2013, he co-founded Urubrass, an international brass festival that has grown over eight editions, bringing together educators and participants from different countries and offering free workshops and concerts to the public in Uruguay.

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As a composer, Ricardo’s works have been performed in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Spain, and the United States. Some of his compositions have been awarded, including the 2023 Uruguayan National Composition Contest (First Prize) and the 2015 Trombonanza Festival in Argentina (First Prize). His interests extend to experimental and contemporary music, as well as the design and development of human-computer interaction systems and digital instruments.

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He has published and presented his work at ICMC, SEAMUS, IRCAM Forum, and the International Trombone Festival.  As a sound artist, he was an artist-in-residence at Binaural Nodar (Portugal), has led workshops at the Asian Art Center in South Korea, and also co-leads the UNESCO-endorsed Sonic Time Machine Project, which aims to recover and reconstruct the soundscape of historically significant sites, with its first permanent iteration established at the former ANGLO meatpacking factory in Uruguay. Ricardo has also participated in various research residency 3-month programs in Berlin, Paris, and Shanghai.

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Ricardo is a former grantee of both the Fulbright Program and the Organization of American States (OAS/OEA) and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition from UDELAR–EUM (Uruguay); a Master’s degree in Music Performance from The New School’s Mannes School of Music, and a Master of Philosophy from New York University (NYU). He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Music Performance and Composition at NYU under the supervision of Dr. Robert Rowe, researching non-invasive human-computer interfaces for trombone.