Axel Retif (Puebla, Mexico, 1992)

He is a composer and producer whose music is characterized by being electric, dynamic and rough, creating sound worlds from a single idea, which is deployed with an organic temporality, paradoxically patient and explosive at the same time. His music has been played in various national and international festivals, such as CAMPGround (USA), Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), Foro Internacional de Música Nueva Manuel Enríquez (Mexico), June in Buffalo (USA), Festival Atemporánea (Argentina), Festival Aires Nacionales (Mexico), Foro de Música Nueva Armando Luna y Encuentro de Interpretes y Compositores (Argentina) Festival Ramificaciones (Mexico), and John Donald Robb Trust Composers’ Symposium (USA), amount others. 

Retif’s music has been performed by important artists around the world, such as Carlos Salmeron, Cristian Coliver, Juliana Moreno, Juanmanuel Flores, Rodrigo Mata, Nikola Lutz, Sini Virtanen, Teresa Díaz de Cossio, Wilfrido Terrazas, Arditti Quartet, Duo Yonx, Trio Siqueiros, Cuarteto Ruvalcaba, Splinter Reeds, Mushamukas Ensamble de Contrabajos, Slee Sinfonietta, the Orquesta Sinfónica UACH and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Puebla. 

 He has received various grants and scholarships such as the Programa Estímulos a la Innovación IMACP 2020, PECDA Puebla 2019 & 2021, and Fomento de las Músicas Iberoamericanas 2020-2021 (IBERMÚSICAS). He has also released two monographic EP albums called Sincronías (2021), House of Flies (2022), and one collective album called Ecos de Viaje – Stefano Scodanibbio recording by Mushamukas Ensamble de Contrabajos, all of them under the label Tagma Records.

Retif began his studies at the Centro de Investigación y Estudios Musicales (CIEM) where he took composition classes with Dr. Ana Paola Santillán. He subsequently graduated from LLCM – BA in Music Composition from the West London College of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of Vincent Carver. He is currently studying his master’s degree in Music Theory & Composition at The University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA with José Luis Hurtado. He currently takes the composition workshop LACREMUS with Julio Estrada.