Wednesday May 20th 2026 / 5:00pm (EST - USA) / Online
The Life of a Composer
(Opera, Symphony, Band & Beyond)
With Raul Esteban Ardila Pineda
Behind the Composer │ Writing Across Genres │ The Unspoken Rules of New Music Creation │ Live Q&A
Limited Full Scholarship Access*
What to expect in the meeting?
This special edition of “A Coffee with Diego” — normally an exclusive PAL Community member benefit — is open free to everyone thanks to the sponsorship of the Opera Camp™ Composition & Libretto Program. Whether you are a composer, conductor, singer, librettist, performer, arts administrator, educator, or simply passionate about how music is created and brought to life — this conversation is for you.
What’s it really like to build a career as a composer across opera, symphonic music, band, chamber music, and multidisciplinary performance?
How do composers balance artistic identity, collaboration, and the realities of today’s performing arts field?
What do conductors, opera companies, ensembles, and artistic leaders actually look for in emerging composers?
What should young composers and creators be doing right now that no one is talking about?
Join Maestro Diego Barbosa-Vásquez and Colombian composer Raúl Esteban Ardila Pineda for a candid 30-minute conversation about the realities, challenges, collaborations, and creative possibilities behind contemporary composition today. Live Q&A at the end — bring your questions!
**This Coffee will be in Spanish**
Produced by "A Coffee with Diego" - PAL Community
By ©Performing Arts Laboratory
Your PAL in Pioneering Sustainable Excellence in Opera, Orchestra, and Ballet
*A Gift to the Next Generation
At PAL, we believe that a sustainable performing arts ecosystem begins with access, mentorship, and meaningful collaboration between all stakeholders — on stage and behind the scenes. That is why the Opera Camp™ Composition & Libretto Program is sponsoring this special edition of “A Coffee with Diego” — normally an exclusive PAL Community benefit — and opening it freely to composers, librettists, performers, arts leaders, and curious audiences who want to better understand how new works are created in today’s performing arts field.
Limited seats. Intimate conversation. Insider knowledge. Welcome to a community building a stronger future for us all.
For More information about Opera Camp™ Composition & Libretto Program and learn how to participate on it
Brewing Conversations With
Diego Barbosa-Vásquez
Conductor
Diego Barbosa-Vásquez is an internationally active opera, orchestra, and ballet conductor recognized for his multidisciplinary artistic leadership and pioneering work in Performing Arts Sustainability. Colombian-born and based in the United States, he serves as General Director of the Performing Arts Laboratory (PAL), Music Director of The Americas Chamber Orchestra, and Music & Artistic Director of the Bloomington Opera Camp™.
As conductor and scholar, he has collaborated with orchestras, opera companies, festivals, and institutions across the Americas and Europe, while also leading innovative productions and international initiatives focused on artistic, financial, social, and ecological sustainability in the performing arts. He holds a Doctorate in Conducting from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and is internationally recognized for his PostDoctoral research integrating music, governance, community engagement, and cultural sustainability.
Raul Esteban Ardila Pineda
Composer
Raul Esteban Ardila Pineda is Raúl Esteban Ardila Pineda is a Colombian composer, arranger, and trumpeter whose work bridges contemporary composition with the traditional and popular musics of Latin America. His music explores cultural identity, hybridity, and the dialogue between oral traditions and contemporary concert writing across opera, symphonic, chamber, and band formats.
A graduate in Composition from the Universidad de Antioquia, Ardila has received multiple national and international awards, including distinctions from the Caldas Symphony Orchestra, The Americas Chamber Orchestra, Fundación Música con Passione, and the Orquesta de Cuerdas Pulsadas de Risaralda. Since 2020, he has been an associate composer with Cayambis Music Press (USA), with works published for solo, chamber, and orchestral ensembles.
He currently serves as the Opera Master Composer of the inaugural 2025–2026 cohort of the Opera Camp™ Composition & Libretto Program, where his new opera Buscando/Seeking El Dorado will premiere as part of the Bloomington Opera Camp™ 2026 production.
Previous Coffees
Dr. Diego Sosa
Librettist
Dr. Diego Sosa is a Mexican writer and academic with more than 20 years of professional experience. He holds a PhD in Media Arts and Drama from Royal Holloway, University of London. His work has been staged in Mexico, the United States, and Europe. He has written opera, theatre, TV, film, and prose.
Born in 1982 in Mexico City, his PhD dissertation analyzed Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou, which he adapted for the stage — performed in Paris in 2019 and again in 2024. He staged his play Faustaff simultaneously in London and Mexico City. He is a founding member of Teatro Perpetuo, has written the operas The Calling and Monumento, and collaborated on the writers’ pool of the Grammy-nominated TV show Al otro lado del muro. He currently teaches drama and film at Universidad Internacional de la Rioja and Anahuac University.
Master Librettist - Cohort 2025-2026
Opera Camp™ Composition & Libretto Program
Geoffrey Larson
Conductor
Geoffrey Larson is the Resident Conductor of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, and a Cover Conductor for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. He previously served as Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master of Berkshire Opera Festival. He was awarded second prize in the 2021 International Orchestral Conducting Competition “UAL” in Spain and has appeared as a guest conductor in opera, ballet, and symphonic performances in the US, Canada, and Europe.
Mentor, and Jury of The 360° Maestro
Camilo Téllez
Conductor
Camilo Téllez is a Colombian conductor based in the United States and currently serves as Music Director of the Marywood Orchestra. He maintains an active international presence across Asia, Latin America, and Europe, and has conducted ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bogotá Philharmonic, Naples Philharmonic among others. A former Dudamel Conducting Fellow in LA Phil, Téllez is recognized for his dynamic programming and his advocacy for Latino repertoire.
Mentor, and Jury of The 360° Maestro
A Coffee with Diego
A PAL-Community Exclusive
By ©Performing Arts Laboratory
Artistically Designed, Scientifically Proven & International Awarded
