Diana Syrse is a composer and singer from Mexico. Her sonic language often incorporates voice, electronics and traditional instruments from Latin America to evoke powerful, theatrical images. In her urban soundscape, she deals with socially relevant issues making an artistic contribution to the discourses of our time. On several occasions, her music is performed by herself in collaboration with other ensembles, choirs, and orchestras. Her catalog includes works written for choirs, orchestras, ensembles, electronics, electroacoustic music, dance, opera and new music theater. She has been invited to festivals in Europe, Canada, Latin America, the United States, and Asia.
Photo: Astrid Ackermann
“...impressive arias about the loss of the utopian and the power of fear”
Süddeutsche Zeitung
(about Der Alte Affe Angst)
"For me, Diana Syrse's music has the rarest quality of all: freedom"
Pascal Dusapin
Award│Artistic residency in Venice, Italy 2022
1.10. 2022-31.12.2022
Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy
Award by the Federal government of Germany with a three-month residency at the German Study Centre in Venice (Deutschen Studienzentrums in Venedig). The artistic residency will take place between October and December 2022 in Venice, Italy.
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Commission │Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie
2026
Montpellier, France
Commission for the creation of "Hotel Moctezuma", an opera written for chamber orchestra, choir and electronics. Music by Diana Syrse, libretto by Carlos José Pérez Samano, stage direction by Ewa Rucinska; choreographer Jean Hostache.
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Nominee of the FEDORA Opera Prize - Opera Hotel Moctezuma
2025
Montpellier, France
Hôtel Moctezuma is an original work inspired by Vivaldi’s opera Montezuma (1733) and Alejo Carpentier’s novel Concierto Barroco (1974). Mexican artists, composer Diana Syrse, and librettist Carlos José Pérez Sámano joined by Polish emerging director Ewa Rucinska and French choreographer Jean Hostache are creating a new opera commissioned by Opera National of Montpellier in collaboration with Opera Warsaw.
Project invited to the FEDORA Prizes Biennale 2025.
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Commission│Junge Deutsche Philharmonie & Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung
01.09.2024
Frankfurt, Germany
"To be told" a new piece for the closing concert of the program SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY . A commission for chamber orchestra and electronics supported by the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung
5th concert FREISPIEL 2024: SHIFTING FUTURES
Admission from 10:30 am
Organiser: Junge Deutsche Philharmonie e.V. (Young German Philharmonic Orchestra)
André de Ridder, conductor
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Gigante Roja for orchestra │Mexico City
15/16.06.2024
Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico
Presentación de la obra de orquesta "Gigante Roja" interpretada por la Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM / Sylvain Gasançon, director titular.
El programa 9 de la OFUNAM se presentará los días 15 y 16 de junio a las 8 y 12 p. m. respectivamente, en la Sala Nezahualcóyotl del Centro Cultural Universitario.
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Connected Identities
15.09.2024
Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico
Connected Identities - Recording with URTEXT
Diana Syrse, voice
Orquesta Escuela Carlos Chávez
Conducted by Eduardo García Barrios
Works by Diana Syrse, lyrics by Diana Syrse & Aleksi Barrière
Sistema de Fomento Musical
Mexico City
Performing the soprano part herself, Syrse unfolds an intimate personal journey, in which she explores multiple external voices in the search for and discovery of her own. This work was conceived in collaboration with writer-director Aleksi Barrière, who co-authored the multilingual libretto.
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Opera Marea Roja - CSUN California
04.2024
California, USA
The opera Marea Roja was presented at the California State University conducted by Mercedes Juan Musotto, music director Maurice Godin, stage director April 4, 5, 6, and 7 2024 Shigemi Matsumoto Recitall Hall.
Translating to “Red Tide,” this opera delves into the topic of violence against women through the real-life stories of three individuals: Nadia Vera, a social anthropologist and activist killed in the Narvarte neighborhood; Kassandra Bravo, a nursing student murdered in Uruapan; and Blanca Montiel, who tragically lost her life to a stray bullet during a shootout in Iguala. Through these accounts, the opera unveils themes of resilience, strength, and courage amidst the challenges of violence.
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Commission - piccolo and piano / Julia Barnett
01.04.2024
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Commission for piccolo and piano. Piece written and commissioned by flutist Julia Barnett.
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Commission│Musikkollegium Winterthur
6.9. & 8.9.2023.
Winterthur, Switzerland
Commission granted by the Musikkollegium Winterthur conducted by Roberto Gonzáles-Monjas to create a new orchestral work in dialogue with Mozart's Symphony No. 40. The concert will be part of their season opening and will feature works by Grieg, Schumann, Syrse and Mozart. Dates: 6.9. and 8.9.2023.
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Resident composer - IMS Prussia Cove - Open Chamber Music
25th of September - 1st of October
Cornwall, UK
I'm delighted to announce that I've been invited as the resident composer at the IMS Prussia Cove - Open Chamber Music event from September 25th to October 1st in Cornwall, UK. I am looking forward to contributing to this wonderful event. You can listen to UK premieres of two works during the concerts on September 29th and 30th.
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Concert with the Orquesta Escuela Carlos Chávez - Symphonic orchestra / CDMX & El Fuego Nuevo
September 30th and October 1st
Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico
Join us for a musical evening in Mexico City as the Orquesta Carlos Chávez, led by conductor Eduardo García Barrios, presents the work "Ciudad de México" by Diana Syrse alongside the premiere of "El Fuego Nuevo" by her father Fernando Valdés Arroyo. These orchestral performances are scheduled for September 30th and October 1st in Mexico City.
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Únete a nosotros para una velada musical en la Ciudad de México, donde la Orquesta Escuela Carlos Chávez, bajo la dirección de Eduardo García Barrios, presentará la obra "Ciudad de México" de Diana Syrse junto con el estreno de "El Fuego Nuevo" de su padre, Fernando Valdés Arroyo. Estas presentaciones sinfónicas están programadas para el 30 de septiembre y el 1 de octubre en la Ciudad de México.
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Singing & Recording session│Indicible, a project with Trio D´Argent
2023
Mexico
The Trio d'Argent and Diana Syrse invite you to a fantastic immersion in the aeolian sound of flutes and voice. Several composers explore, each in their own way, the intriguing space between the world of the intelligible and that of mysterious or imaginary languages. Mexico tour 2023.
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Opera Commission│Braunschweig
2022
Braunschweig, Germany
Premiere of "To Fall Safely" an opera in 15 scenes for three voices, dancer, chamber orchestra and electronics. Libretto written by Katharina Kern and Jeannette Petrik. Stage direction Jörg Wesemüller, dramaturgy Iris Kleinschmidt. Premiere at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, scenography by Jasna Bosnjak. Premiere: 11 September 2022.
New video of "Pensar en quetzales" I Festival Nouveaux Horizons by ARTE TV channel
2022
Aix-en-Provence, France
You can now watch the video of "Pensar en quetzales" commissioned by Le Grand Théâtre de Provence to write a new piece for the festival Nouveaux Horizons under the direction of Renaud Capuçon. Libretto by Hugo Roca Joglar; music by Diana Syrse.
Residency│Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France
2022
2022
Paris, France
Residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris - 2022
Video│Diana Syrse & New Juilliard Ensemble
2022
New York, NY, USA
You can now watch the video of "The invention of sex" performed by Diana Syrse and the New Juilliard Ensemble conducted by Joel Sachs. Libretto by Aleksi Barrière.
Performed on April 11th 2022 at the Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in New York
For more information about the text and concept of this piece visit:
https://aleksibarriere.org/2019/10/21/the-invention-of-sex-monodrama/
Award│Artistic residency in Venice, Italy 2022
2022
Venice, Italy
Award by the Federal government of Germany with a three-month residency at the German Study Centre in Venice (Deutschen Studienzentrums in Venedig). The artistic residency will take place between October and December 2022 in Venice, Italy.
Composing & Singing│Connected Identities, Musée Quai Branly
2021
Paris, France
The video of the concert is available in the you tube channel of the Musée du Quai Branly, for Connected Identities go directly to minute 27’43’’: Click here.
Connected Identities is a project that emerges from a collaboration between composer and singer Diana Syrse (1984, Mexico) and the stage director and author Aleksi Barrière (1989, France/Finland). This work is a monodrama for voice and orchestra in which the composer performs the soloist part and explores the diffracted facets of her own identity as a Latin American artist, an identity that continues to form across geographies. This work will be performed in different countries with various local ensembles and conductors starting with France, Mexico and Germany. Through cultural exchange, music tradition will be explored in an international and interdisciplinary way, raising questions about what we share and what separates us. The staging is directed by Aleksi Barrière and will be presented for the first time in collaboration with the new musical theater company La Chambre aux échos. Concert on April 18th, 2021.
Géante rouge performed by the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, NOW ONLINE!
January 2021
You can now listen to the work "Géante rouge" (Red Giant) written for symphonic orchestra in 2021 following the link on the image. This work was commissioned by the Festival Présences and performed by the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Alain Altinoglu at the Paris Philharmonic. Thanks to Radio France and the Festival Présences for the permission to share this work online.
Article│The Ne-opera
February, 2021
Published in three languages in Latvia and France.
What do we need to do to reimagine opera in our time? To what extent are we limited in terms of the music education we receive at universities? Why is diversity so important in the programming of events with music and scene in theaters and opera houses in Europe and what does that have to do with the future of opera?
