Sebastián Modarelli

Sebastián Modarelli studied at the National Conservatory of Music in his native Buenos Aires, Argentina, earning his degree as salutatorian of his class. He also studied composition privately with Virtú Maragno. In 1998 he was awarded the highest prize at the National Composers’ Competition Promociones Musicales and, a year later, he won the First Prize in the Triennial Composers’ Competition of the National Academy of Arts in Argentina. His wide success led to a scholarship from the Argentinean Mozarteum and in 2001 he was offered a scholarship from the Italian Government to study and compose at the Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi in Milan for three years. Besides earning an additional degree in Composition, Europe gave him the opportunity to participate in seminars and master classes with composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luis de Pablo and many others. Recently he was awarded a Global Music Award for his duo I’ll Meet You Again.

As an organist, he studied in Argentina at the National Conservatory of Music with Luis Caparra and Jesús Segade, Karl Richter’s frequent collaborator in Argentina.  He held the position of Organist and Music Professor at the Seminary of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, guided by then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis).  He also founded and conducted Scholae Canctorum and choirs in both Buenos Aires and Milan.

In 2005 Modarelli moved to Rochester, Minnesota after being offered the position of Music Director and Organist at the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. His music has been performed by several ensembles and orchestras, and broadcast in different countries, including Minnesota Public Radio. In November 2013, the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, under the direction of Philip Brunelle, premiered his largest choral work, What I Have Seen and Heard, an hour-long a cappella piece entirely based on the Gospel of St. John.

Besides his ongoing organ performances and commissions, he has been involved in numerous professional engagements and lectures around the country. He has served as Dean of the Southeastern Minnesota Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, the Liturgical Commission of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester and of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions in the United States.

His music can be purchased from Fred Bock Publishing.