Born in
Panama City, he studied composition under
Ernst Krenek and conducting under
Dimitri Mitropoulos, Stanley Chapple, and
Léon Barzin before becoming director of the Institute of Music and Artistic Director and conductor of the National Symphony of his native country. Later he was assistant director of the Latin American Music Center (LAMúsiCa), professor of composition at
Indiana University School of Music, and, from 1972, distinguished professor emeritus at
Illinois State University. His students included Panamanian composer
Marina Saiz-Salazar. His works have been widely performed in Latin America, the United States and Europe, receiving international awards for his First Symphony (Honorable Mention, Detroit, 1947), Rapsodia Campesina (First Prize, Panama, 1953), Second Symphony (Caro de Boesi Award, Caracas, Venezuela, 1957), Violin Concerto (1974 Koussevitzky International Recording Award), and Third String Quartet (Chamber Music Award, San José, Costa Rica, 1977). Several of his compositions have been recorded by the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the
Louisville Orchestra, the
Chicago Sinfonietta (
Eight Miniatures for Small Orchestra, Paul Freeman, conductor, Cedille Records) and various chamber music groups and soloists. He has appeared as guest conductor in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, and in the United States. His "Sonata breve" for solo piano, composed in 1966, is published by
C.F. Peters. His Second Symphony was performed by the Seattle Philharmonic in April 2008. In 2020, his complete works for solo piano were published by
Albany Records. They were recorded by Dr. Tuyen Tonnu, Associate Professor of Piano, at Illinois State University. After retiring he spent the last eight years of his life living with his family in
Dayton, Ohio, where he died at age 91. ==Selected works==