Bio
I am a composer, clarinetist, and scholar working at the intersection of acoustic, electroacoustic, and improvisational practices. I serve as Assistant Professor of Composition and Technology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and direct the Composition Program at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. I hold a PhD in composition from the University of Florida and a Master of Music from Carnegie Mellon University as a Fulbright Scholar, following earlier studies in Argentina supported by the Antorchas Foundation and the Fondo Nacional de las Artes.
My recent commissions include the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, and Bryan Symphony Orchestra, with performances across Europe and the Americas. As a performer, I appeared as Headliner Artist at ClarinetFest 2025 and as Guest Artist at the Big Ears Festival (2023, 2025). My ensemble Variego3 has toured in Paris and New York. My interdisciplinary work integrates electroacoustic performance, video design (Music Under the Dome, Coca Cola Space Science Center), and collaborations with institutions such as Studio Phonos, CMMAS, and ESMUC.
My research articulates a constraint-based compositional practice. Publications include Composing with Constraints(Oxford University Press, 2021) and Composición Algorítmica (Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, 2018), with Making Music through Improvisation forthcoming from Oxford. Recordings include VariEGO (2025), Recompensa (2023), and Goes Free (2020), with archival presence at the CDMC (Museo Reina Sofía). My music is distributed through Parma, Albany Records, CMMAS, Centaur, and Naxos.
My recognitions include the Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship (FY25), the American Recovery Plan Grant (2022–2024), ASCAP awards, and Fulbright support. I have held residencies at the Visby International Centre for Composers and the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras, and presented workshops and lectures in Peru, Spain, Ecuador, and Colombia. Recent projects emphasize community-based performance contexts.
Recent collaborations
Recent collaborations include chamber ensembles, orchestras, soloists, youth programs, and electroacoustic projects across the Americas and Europe. Collaborators and performing organizations include Vientos Trio, Piedmont Duo, Tosca Quartet, Orchester Liestal, Orquesta de Cámara Mayo, Orquesta Sinfónica de Salta, Orquesta Municipal de Rosario, Orquesta Sinfónica Provincial de Rosario, Duo Montagnard, pianists Steve Beck and Amy I-Lin Cheng, PYCO, Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Chile, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Bryan Symphony Orchestra, Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, nief-norf, Big Ears Festival, Orquesta Juvenil de la UNR, Cumberland Orchestra, Sewanee Symphony Orchestra, Variego3, Aguero-Saez, Christopher Newport Wind Ensemble, Ensemble Coral Encore, and Coral de Cámara de Rosario.
Short version
100 words
Jorge Variego (Rosario, Argentina) is a composer and scholar specializing in algorithmic composition and constraint-based methods. He is Assistant Professor of Music and Technology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and directs the composition program at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. A former Fulbright Program scholar, his music is released on Naxos Records, Albany Records, and Centaur Records. His books include Composing with Constraints(Oxford University Press, 2021).
Recent performances feature the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, with Suite Argentoscheduled for premiere in 2026. He directs the Domino Ensemble and the UT Electroacoustic Ensemble, focusing on improvisation with electronic media.
50 words
Jorge Variego (Rosario, Argentina) is a composer specializing in algorithmic and constraint-based composition. Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, he directs Sewanee’s composition program. His music appears on Naxos Records. Author of Composing with Constraints (Oxford University Press, 2021). Founder of Domino Ensemble.
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"There is no documentation apart from a track listing and recording [Recompensa] information: the space Centaur uses for notes is filled by one large black-and-white photograph of the musicians-not a bad thing, of course. It just means the music has to speak completely for itself, and it certainly does that. This is a great disc, and a treat for all jazz lovers. The range of styles is large; all three players are superb in their own right and even better together as one entity. A Want List candidate, for sure." - Colin Clarke