Julian De La Chica wins Best Historical Fiction Novel at ILBA 25th Edition
I am thrilled and deeply honored to share some incredible news with all of you. My book, God's Punishment, has achieved a remarkable feat by being recognized as a “double winner”. It has secured the prestigious AWA (Award-Winning Author) award for Best Novel—Historical Fiction (English), and it has also received an Honorable Mention for Best LGBTQ+ Theme Book at the 25th edition of the International Latino Book Awards 2023 (ILBA). This year, with over 3,000 books in contention from around the world, a panel of 220 jurors made their selections, making this achievement truly remarkable.
I would like to dedicate this recognition to the wonderful people of Agua de Dios. This book was written by them and for them. It is a tribute to their spirit, stories, families, and ancestors.
The award ceremony is scheduled for October 21st in Los Angeles, where the book will compete for the gold, silver, or bronze medal. My gratitude goes out to each and every one of you for your unwavering support and encouragement. Congratulations to all the winners and honorable mentions for their outstanding contributions.
Julián De La Chica
Photo courtesy by IGM
God’s Punishment depicts the human rights violations from a dark chapter in Colombian history and culture, whilst underlining the power of music.
Russian Mezzo Yana Mann releases new video
Music like from another world. Mystical, profound and chorale-like. Although Yana Mann was trained as an opera singer, the young mezzo-soprano does not live up to the clichés. On her debut album “Poemas De Bar” she dedicates herself to intimate stories about love, death and loss, which are only uttered in the familiar room of the corner pub. The album will be released on May 21st. The new single "El Amor" will be released on April 23rd.
Music like from another world. Mystical, profound and chorale-like. Although Yana Mann was trained as an opera singer, the young mezzo-soprano does not live up to the clichés. On her debut album “De La Chica’s Poemas De Bar” she dedicates herself to intimate stories about love, death and loss, which are only uttered in the familiar room of the corner pub. The album will be released on May 21st. The new single "El Amor" will be released on April 23rd.
Yana Mann releases new single and video "Ella"
Sadness and pain. Love and separation. Loss and hope. These are some of the themes running deeply throughout Dubai-based mezzo-soprano, Yana Mann’s debut studio album.
Sadness and pain. Love and separation. Loss and hope. These are some of the themes running deeply throughout Dubai-based mezzo-soprano, Yana Mann’s debut studio album. A collaboration with Brooklyn-based Colombian composer Julián De La Chica, who describes Yana as having, ‘A very intriguing voice. There is a palpable darkness to her that gives the songs that peculiar atmosphere necessary to tell a story’.
“For Mann, the achievement is a remarkable solo debut album that demonstrates not only the natural beauty of her voice but the sustained emotional directness with which she deploys it. Mann accentuates the faintest glimmer of hope in these songs detailing loss and absence with such gentle force that the cycle comes to generate a distinctly up-to-date melancholia.”
— Thomas May
The Music and Myth | Interview with Composer Julián De La Chica
I think this speaks to the relatability of the film. Because, as a viewer, if you go beyond what might be shocking to you, or too candid, or too intense, in the end it’s a film about a basic human experience. Everyone has experienced loneliness and desperation, to varying degrees.
I think this speaks to the relatability of the film. Because, as a viewer, if you go beyond what might be shocking to you, or too candid, or too intense, in the end it’s a film about a basic human experience. Everyone has experienced loneliness and desperation, to varying degrees. It’s also a comment on the nature of objective reality. Who are we when we are alone, when we think no one can see us? And, if someone could see us in those moments of privacy, how much would they know about us? How much would they understand? What kind of story would they tell themselves about what they are witnessing?
Agatha, Finalist at the Lonely Wolf London International Film Festival
You'll soon acquaint yourself with the caliber of our worldwide competition as you venture into this week's festival activities, Lonely Wolf is not easy to champion and this very achievement should not be taken lightly; out of 855 film projects to be exact, you were one of the few that snatched a top rank in the competition, it doesn't get better than that!
Official Press Release:
Via Lonely Wolf team
I am beyond thrilled and honoured to make you and your team aware that you've championed Lonely Wolf! YOU ARE A FINALIST NOMINEE!!
You'll soon acquaint yourself with the caliber of our worldwide competition as you venture into this week's festival activities, Lonely Wolf is not easy to champion and this very achievement should not be taken lightly; out of 855 film projects to be exact, you were one of the few that snatched a top rank in the competition, it doesn't get better than that!
HUGE congratulations! Your film is made of special stuff.
You are an alpha wolf inspiring and teaching our global wolfpack community of filmmakers that independent cinema only has as many obstacles as we decide to impose on ourselves. The level of ambition, sophistication and originality you've exhibited in your work was unparalleled and I'm thrilled to celebrate you with our wolfpack community and the wider industry, for I have a long list of longstanding industry contacts and friends invited into this unique film festival I call 'home'. I hope from today you'll find a family in us and we'll be a film festival you'll keep coming back to for I'm going to be following your film-making career very closely and I can't wait to see what you do next.
Entrevista | Festival De Cine De Bogota
Después de haber sido galardonado con la Mención Especial en la categoría de Mejor Cortometraje Internacional, en la 37 edición del Festival De Cine de Bogotá — Bogocine, el Compositor Julián De La Chica nos habla de su película Agatha, de su experiencia dirigiendo su primera obra cinematográfica y sobre la repercusión que ha tenido la película y que la ha llevado a ganar más de 17 premios, y ser seleccionada en mas de 20 festivales internacionales.
Después de haber sido galardonado con la Mención Especial en la categoría de Mejor Cortometraje, en la 37 edición del Festival De Cine de Bogotá — Bogocine, el Compositor Julián De La Chica nos habla de su película Agatha, de su experiencia dirigiendo su primera obra cinematográfica y sobre la repercusión que ha tenido la película y que la ha llevado, al día de hoy, a ganar más de 17 premios, y ser seleccionada en mas de 20 festivales internacionales.
Julian De La Chica, winner at the Tokyo Film Festival
Since its completion in spring 2020, Agatha has circulated through nearly two dozen international film festivals, and has received numerous accolades for its outstanding cinematography, acting, LGBTQUIA+ significance, bold visual experimentation, and haunting film score.
Since its completion in spring 2020, Agatha has circulated through nearly two dozen international film festivals, and has received numerous accolades for its outstanding cinematography, acting, LGBTQUIA+ significance, bold visual experimentation, and haunting film score.
Recently, the film has been lauded at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival (Best Film Score, Best LGBT Film), the Olso Film Festival (Award of Recognition: Best Foreign Film), and Munich’s New Wave Short Film Festival (Best LGBT Film) in addition to nearly twenty other awards, honorable mentions, and nominations (Best LGBT Film) in addition to nearly twenty other awards, honorable mentions, and nominations.
Julian De La Chica in Bogocine 37
Selected as an official artist of Bogocine 37, composer Julián De la Chica will perform a digital concert of selections from the music of his film Agatha, live from his studio in Brooklyn, New York, on October 22 at 6:30pm Colombia/5:30pm Eastern, which can be streamed through the Festival website.
Selected as an official artist of Bogocine 37, composer Julián De la Chica will perform a digital concert of selections from the music of his film Agatha, live from his studio in Brooklyn, New York, on October 22 at 6:30pm Colombia/5:30pm Eastern, which can be streamed through the Festival website.
Agatha — Winner at the Prague International Film Festival
AGATHA just got “Honorable Mention: Best Experimental Film” at the Venice Film Awards! what an honor! Thank you so much Venice Film Awards & Congrats to all the team!
It is an extreme honor to announce that AGATHA has WON “Best Experimental” as well an “Honorable Mention — Best Cinematography” at the Prague International Film Festival.
Thank you so much Prague International Film Festival & Congratulations to all the team, specially to our talented cinematographer Junting Zhou. Thank you also to all festivals that are supporting our film, Experimental/LGBT/Latino
Agatha, Honorable Mention: Best Experimental
AGATHA just got “Honorable Mention: Best Experimental Film” at the Venice Film Awards! what an honor! Thank you so much Venice Film Awards & Congrats to all the team!
AGATHA just got “Honorable Mention: Best Experimental Film” at the Venice Film Awards! what an honor! Thank you so much Venice Film Awards & Congrats to all the team!
My first Symphony is OUT
Irreverence Group Music presents Julián De La Chica's first Symphony — An exploration of the composer's isolation in his studio in Brooklyn, NY. This work, for an orchestra of synthesizers, rethinks European canonical definitions of genres in a new form of creation during social distancing.
Irreverence Group Music presents Julián De La Chica's first Symphony — An exploration of the composer's isolation in his studio in Brooklyn, NY. This work, for an orchestra of synthesizers, rethinks European canonical definitions of genres in a new form of creation during social distancing. "The glory of chaos. The world without time. The balance is lost and, in its decline, perpetuates our hope. Emptiness." — Julián De La Chica
The album's artwork -collage a0548 - is by Henrik Langsdorf, a German-born visual artist who divides his time between New York and Kinshasa and who De La Chica greatly admires.
Agatha - The film
I am very excited to share with you, that this morning, I received 2 big news. The first one, it was that my first film project I directed Agatha has been “Officially Selected” by the BFFF (Berlin Flash Film Festival).
I am very excited to share with you, that this morning, I received 2 big news. The first one, it was that my first film project I directed Agatha has been “Officially Selected” by the BFFF (Berlin Flash Film Festival). And the second one, only received a few minutes later, is that the film won the “Urban Art — best soundtrack 2020" award at the BUFF (Berlin Underground Film Festival).
I can only say that this has been possible thanks to the collaboration of Augusto Guzmán, who gave life to the film’s protagonist (Próspero), the immaculate photography of Junting Zhou. (Btw, if you do not know his work, see the doc he made about Cov-19 and that was published by New York Times recently. (https://nyti.ms/3aC2hKm)and the production of Irreverence Group Music.
I would also like to thank filmmaker Aulio Ivan Ortiz Perez and his mother, Altagracia Mencía Pérez for playing the role of Francisca, the Mother, and also to John Garcia for his sound design.
I take this opportunity, to also thank my filmmakers, artists, photographers and writers friends for having been there always with good advice. My dear Badr Farha, Ana Paula Feier and Vlad Feier, Susan Campos Fonseca and her poetry and Sophy and her support in translation. Amigos de siempre Ilona Miller, el primer publico Carlos Del Risco Jaramillo, Rodrigo Fajardo, Jaime Davila, JP Wright and of course to Miguel and Gabi for always being there supporting my ideas.
Agata is a visual experiment that is based on my story Voyeuristic Images, which is also part of my piano cycle Op. 10 and that I premiered in Dec 2019 at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music. The story tells a experience that I lived 11 years ago when I moved to NY, and that still, I remember very well.
WQXR Presents: Beginner’s Ear
On January 31, the hypnotic music of Julia Wolfe, Philip Glass, Hannah Lash and Julián De La Chica becomes a vehicle for deep inward exploration in this special one-hour event combining guided meditation and live music.
WQXR presents Beginner’s Ear, one hour of lunchtime bliss with guided meditation and a live performance by world-class musicians every Friday from January 17 through March 6.
On January 31, the hypnotic music of Julia Wolfe, Philip Glass, Hannah Lash and Julián De La Chica becomes a vehicle for deep inward exploration in this special one-hour event combining guided meditation and live music. The performer is Lisa Moore, whose playing was singled out by the New York Times for its “life and freshness” and “fragility and tenderness.”
Lisa Moore
by Yumiko-Izu
Lisa is joined by the Colombian composer and sound artist Julián De La Chica, “an extraordinarily deep thinker … able to take a listener into mysterious by-ways using very slender means.” (Stephen Mould) Join in a simple mindfulness practice to clear mental static, then allow the sounds of Lisa’s piano transport you on a sonic journey.
Hosted and moderated by New York Times contributing critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim. Meditation led by Thomas Droge, founder of the Pathfinder Institute.
Lisa Moore &
Julián De La Chica
Photo by Hassan Malik
Video
Lisa Moore & Julián De La Chica
Prelude Op. 8 No. 13
Profanum, the new album of Soprano Rachel Hippert is OUT
IGM proudly presents the new album of Soprano Rachel Hippert, featuring the early sacred songs of Julian De La Chica. Check out the video in which both singer and composer discuss Profanum, and hear some of the most stunning moments of Hippert's performance on the album. We are also delighted to share these artful and reflective notes on the album, written by American actor and Opera Star, Zachary James.
IGM proudly presents the new album of Soprano Rachel Hippert, featuring the early sacred songs of Julian De La Chica. Check out the video in which both singer and composer discuss Profanum, and hear some of the most stunning moments of Hippert's performance on the album. We are also delighted to share these artful and reflective notes on the album, written by American actor and Opera Star, Zachary James.
Rachel Hippert
Photo by Julián De La Chica
Profanum - the early sacred songs of Julian De La Chica, the new album from American Soprano Rachel Hippert celebrates humanity in all its imperfections and our eternal desire for meaning within our existence. Though religious themes are present it was not these themes that gave birth to this work, but a desire to connect with the heart of the listener, to identify with the complex emotional landscape of what it is to exist in human form on this small planet we share.
AMY - A Tribute, is out today!
I wrote this tribute to Amy Winehouse 8 years ago when I heard about her tragic death while on a cab drive to my home in Brooklyn. I was in shock.
I wrote this tribute to Amy Winehouse 8 years ago when I heard about her tragic death while on a cab drive to my home in Brooklyn. I was in shock. On the radio Amy’s song You know I’m no good played. As soon as I got home, I sat down at the piano and wrote AMY, a response to Amy’s You know I’m not good. I thought: “When I see you again, I'll tell you a story, as we walk the Brooklyn's streets”. Days after, I invited jazz singer Omayra to sing the song. We recorded a version for piano and voice.
Today, we are celebrating Amy's life with the release of the song in a new remix. A little tribute to a big inspiration in my life.
Cover by Jeny Odio
Omayra &
Julián De La Chica
Photo by Pedro Martí