Rodrigo Martínez Torres (b.1992) is a Mexican composer interested in the inner architecture of sound, and its resonances with the mind. He has also focused on the abstraction of popular musics as a tool for new creations. He is a multi-instrumentalist who performs in different genres and styles. Rodrigo’s been awarded grants and fellowships in both the US and Mexico. His practice spans radio broadcasting and production, performing in rock bands, writing for the orchestra, and composing for film and theater.
He studied music composition in Academia de Arte de Florencia (CDMX) and in Centro Superior Katarina Gurska (Marid, Spain). He is currently pursuing an MFA in Sonic Practice at Dartmouth College (NH, USA)
He was granted the Arts Integration Grant by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth in 2023, for a project that mixes visual arts, the architecture of Luis Barragán, and music. He was a grant holder in the Mexican program Jóvenes Creadores by FONCA in 2018-2019, to write a piece for symphonic orchestra inspired in salsa. He was awarded a MacDowell fellowship (New Hampshire, USA) in October 2019, to write a Drum Kit concerto.
Rodrigo was the grand prize winning composer of the 2020 Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble Composition Competition. He also won the 2017 Arturo Márquez composition competition with his piece “Mambo Urbano”, for chamber orchestra. His music has been played by German accordionist Eva Zöllner, Dutch ensemble Modelo 62, Mexican ensembles CEPROMUSIC, Liminar, and Ensemble Tamayo, as well as by Italian pianist Gloria Campaner.
Besides being a composer, he has been playing in different ensembles for the past years. In 2015 he joined Mexican Coro Delicieux where, apart from singing, he worked as arranger for the choir in a collaboration with Mexican cult band Santa Sabina. In 2016 he was the main double bass player at the Orquesta Filarmónica del Nuevo Mundo, as well as the saxophone player in Kumpania, a balkan music ensemble. In 2017 he travelled to the US and Brazil as the drummer for French singer Laure Briard. In 2019 he travelled to the US and all over Mexico with Monstruos del Mañana, a band where he sang and composed for. He also played in Mexican band Supersilverhaze. In 2022 Rodrigo played bass in La Chinaca, an up and coming cumbia band based in London.
His work in radio includes writing, and broadcasting for “Radio Pocajú” in Mexico’s Ibero 90.9 FM (2015-2018), as well as production and broadcasting for Aire Libre 105.3 FM (2019). He also produced an original show called “Cócteles Supersónicos” that aired on Spanish internet radio, Radio Relativa (2022). Currently, Rodrigo is the musical director of the new interphonic web radio station, www.radiotroni.ca
Rodrigo has also composed music for film, theatre, and advertising. Theatre collaborations include sound design for “Bye bye bird”, by Jose M. Hidalgo, and music for “Papá está solo”, by Miguel A. León. Film collaborations include music composition for “Todo lo que fui(mos)” by Lorenzo Navas, and original music for “Remitente”, by Mateo Miranda. In 2024, Rodrigo scored Mexican director Victoria Franco’s first feature film, “Doce Lunas”.
CV - - Manifesto - - Artist Statement