Bio
Citlali Gómez Escobar is a Mexican pianist, composer and artistic researcher, currently based in Vienna. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Design from The University of Apply Arts Vienna (Die Angewandte) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from the Faculty of Music in Mexico (UNAM). Additionally, she has pursued further education in Art Philosophy, Musical Aesthethics and Music Pedagogy.
She has studied chamber music with the Assad duo (Brazil) and piano collaborative under the guidance of Master Elías Morales Cariño. She has participated in various specialized seminars, including “The Vocal Repertoire of Pianists” led by Master Brian Moll, “Extended Piano Techniques of the 20th and 21st Century” with Dr. Mauricio Ramos Viterbo, and “Historic Musical Interpretation” taught by Master Isabel Shau. Furthermore, she has deepened her knowledge of injury prevention in pianist by attending the course “Principles of somatic education for musicians and the prevention of injuries related to playing their instruments” given by Master Cristina Castro. Citlali has also explore Spanish music under the tutelage of Master Miguel Figueroa.
Citlali’s artistic process is deeply rooted in her cultural heritage, which rests on the Zapotec indigenous community in southern Mexico. Her work is dedicated not only to promoting a reflective exploration of the social environment and the diversity around us through music, but also to revealing their impact on individuals’ development and their ways of living. Her artistic research emphasizes the crucial role of music in reinforcing identity and culture, serving as a powerful medium for transmitting the knowledge and values of the societies that produce it.
As a pianist, Citlali performs as a soloist with orchestra, a recitalist, a chamber musician, and a vocal accompanist. Her most notable piano performances include appearances with “Concert Musicians of Bellas Artes” and at “The International Guitar Festival of Morelia” in Mexico. She has also presented music lectures and performances, such as “Beethoven’s Thinking through his Piano Sonatas” and “Bach: First keyboard Concertos in the History of Music” at the Bergen Offentigle Bibliotek in Norway, the educational concert “Papillons: Music as Literature,” featuring the music of Schumann, also at the Bergen Offentigle Bibliotek. Additionally, she performed at the opening of the Urbanized Festival 2019 at Belvedere 21 in Austria and has given solo recitals at the Concert Hall Silvestre Revueltas of the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico, as well as in concert halls in Brazil and the United States.
As an artistic researcher, Citlali has presented her research on latinamerican indigenous music and colonialism as a conference speaker at the 12th SAR International Conference on Artistic Research, and at the Symposium “To make what disappears, appear again” at the Kunsthalle Exnergasse in Vienna. Furthermore, Citlali frequently translates her research into musical compositions, such as the sound piece “RadioBook” commissioned by the Art Space Saavy Contemporary in Berlin and “Synagogue” commissioned by the Art Collective Tratado Material in Vienna.
In 2006, Citlali was awarded the “Support for Artistic and Cultural Projects” by the Mexican Institute of Youth for her project “Canni runda: diffusion of Latin American Music from Folklore to Concert,” which aimed to promote the music of Latin American composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Additionally, in 2019 and 2021 she received the “Auslandsstipendium for Scientific Work Abroad” from Die Angewandte for her project “Endangered Indigenous Songs”. This project focuses on the preservation, revitalization and dissemination of Indigenous Songs from Kichwa, Wayuu and Zapotec communities of Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico which are at risk of extinction.
Since 2022, Citlali has been the piano accompanist of the intenational choir “N.Choir” founded and conducted by artist Pavel Naydenov.