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 been growing over eight editions, bringing together educators and participants from different countries, 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, with some receiving international awards. His interests extend to experimental and contemporary music, as well as the design and development of human-computer interaction interfaces and electronic and digital instruments.

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He has presented his work at events such as ICMC (2025, U.S.), SEAMUS (2025, U.S.), IRCAM Forum (2024, France), Atemporanea (2023, Argentina), the International Trombone Festival (2022, U.S.), and at UTEC in Uruguay. As a sound artist, he was an artist-in-residence at Binaural Nodar (Portugal), have 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.

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Ricardo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition from UDELAR–EUM (Uruguay); a Master’s degree in Trombone 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.