Early career After finishing his education at UCLA, González toured with
the New Christy Minstrels, and then became music director for
Luis Valdez'
El Teatro Campesino.
Film and television González' first televised composition was the
PBS broadcast of La Pastorela as part of its
Great Performances program. La Pastorela was initially a production of El Teatro Campesino, a Christmas pageant set in a Tex-Mex milieu, featuring
Linda Ronstadt,
Lupe Ontiveros,
Paul Rodriguez and
Cheech Marin. Since then, González' compositions have been featured in over 200 films, documentaries, and television programs. Some of the most prominent of his compositions for film and television include
Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown and
Curdled, the
Academy Award-nominated documentary
Colors Straight Up,
Lifetime Television's feature-length
Little Girl Lost, and the entire run of the
Showtime series
Resurrection Blvd. His work in the documentary world includes composing soundtracks for the Emmy Award-winning
Made in L.A., as well as other award-winning documentaries, including
Angels in the Dust, Steal a Pencil for Me, and
Cowboy del Amor. Misa Azteca In 1997, as part of the
Meet the Composer program, González was commissioned to write his
Misa Azteca, which debuted on Dec. 4, 1997, at the
Tijuana Cultural Center (Centro Cultural de Tijuana) performed by the
Orquesta de Baja California, the
Southwestern College Choir of
Chula Vista, California, and Tribu, a four-piece
pre-Columbian percussion ensemble from
Mexico City. On July 9, 2006, the
Gloria from
Misa Azteca was performed in the Concert Hall of the
Sydney Opera House in
Sydney, Australia. On June 18, 2009, the
Sanctus from
Misa Azteca was performed in
Paris, France, at the
Basilica of St. Denis, performed by the Hispanic Choir of the
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels from Los Angeles, California, conducted by Antonio Espinal.
Misa Azteca was also performed at the
Sorbonne and the
American Cathedral in Paris (
Episcopal). Selections of
Misa Azteca were subsequently performed at
Carnegie Hall in
New York City on Feb. 20, 2011. Members of the
L.A. Philharmonic performed
Misa Azteca June 19, 2011, at
Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Misa Azteca was scheduled to be again performed as part of the Festival of the Aegean on July 10 and 11, 2013, on the island of
Syros, Greece.
Misa Azteca is a musical composition which combines Spanish and Latin texts of the Roman Catholic liturgy with songs from the
Cantares Mexicanos, the largest collection of pre-Columbian
Nahuatl songs or poems to have been recorded. González was influenced by
Johann Sebastian Bach's
Mass in B Minor, and in the manner of
Stravinsky and
Orff sought to create a "similar [blend] of old and new," giving the piece "a neo-Baroque flavor."
Films Television Short films and other works ==References==