A native
of Colombia, Ms. Potes moved to the USA in 1983. She became
involved in the field of composition in 1990 and has established
a career as a composer of a subtle, yet energetic and personal
style. In her language, there can be perceived rich European
influences blended with occasional traces of rhythms and
melodic gestures inspired by Colombian and Latin-American
traditional music.
Ms. Potes' compositions have been performed by the Montreal
Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony of Colombia, Darmstadt
2000 Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, the
Symphony Orchestra of Cali, International Alliance for
Women in Music, the ISCM in New York, Parnassus, the Composer's
Conference at Wellesley College, the Network for New Music, Momenta Quartet,
The Stefan Wolpe Society, The New York New Music Ensemble,
the Institute for New Music in Freiburg, Germany, the
ISCM in Seoul, South Korea and at International Musical
Festivals in England, Colombia, Brazil, El Salvador and Venezuela. Her music has been performed by soprano
Susan Narucki, pianists David Holzman, Charles Abramovic, and
Blair MacMillen, saxophonist Marshall Taylor, percussionist Mircea Ardeleanu
and violist Stephanie Griffin.
Her orchestral compositions Cantares para Orquesta was selected for the 2002 New Music Reading Sessions of The Women's Philharmonic in San Francisco and her composition Reflexiones was a winner of the 1994 Riverside Symphony's First International Composers Reading Project in New York. Ms.
Potes is a winner of 2001-2002 Music of Changes Composer
Competition in Los Angeles that included a concert dedicated
to her music. The recording of her composition Entre Arrullos
y Madrigales, performed by soprano Susan Narucki
and the New York New Music Ensemble has been recently
released by the Banco de la Republica of Colombia as part
of its collection Música y Músicos
de Colombia.
The New York Times has described her composition, Canciones
Nocturnas, as songs that "limn nocturnal shadows
exquisitely and are the very soul of brevity" and
Cánticos para Cinco as a composition of "calmly
weaving counterpoint, undulant dance rhythms and elegant
atonal harmonies".
Ms. Potes has received commissions from, among others, the Ministry of Culture of Colombia, Music of Changes,
the Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts in
Philadelphia, Colombia's Luis Angel Arango Recital Hall/Banco
de la República, Office of Academic Affairs of
Hostos Community College and consecutive ASCAP awards
(1998-2008). Celebrating Women's Month in March 2006, the Latin American Cultural Center of Queens and the Women's Council of New York recognized her for her outstanding achievements as a composer. Her music is published by the Ministry of
Culture of Colombia and Hildegard Publishing Company.
She holds a DMA in Composition from Temple University
where she studied composition with Matthew Greenbaum,
Maurice Wright and Ursula Mamlok. Ms. Potes teaches at
The Mannes College of Music, College Preparatory Division
in New York.
