North Star New Music Festival

Vinicio Meza is a Costa Rican composer, clarinetist and saxophonist, and an arranger of
symphonic, chamber, jazz and "salsa"; music. He began his music studies with his father, and later attended the Municipal School of Music in his hometown Paraíso, Cartago,  where he began his clarinet studies. Thereafter he continued his music studies at the Conservatory of Castella and after his graduation, he studied for two years at the Interlochen Arts Academy, in Michigan, USA. Vinicio obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, USA, and his Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the Florida State University in Tallahassee, USA. In Costa Rica, he has been awarded the “National Prize in Music Performance”, the “National Prize in Music Composition”, the “Prize for Arranger of the Year”, the “Prize for Composer of the Year” in formal music, the “Prize for Composer of the Year” in jazz from ACAM (Composers and Authors Association of Costa Rica) and the “Áncora Prize of Music”. Several of his works have been recorded or commissioned in Costa Rica and abroad. Vinicio has been a clarinet professor at the University of Costa Rica and the National University of Costa Rica. He is a member of the Costa Rica Symphony Orchestra and teaches Music Appreciation at the Costa Rica Institute of Technology. He was the music director, composer, and arranger of Soncaribe "Salsa"; Orchestra and also works as clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer of Swing en 4 jazz quartet. With this group, he has four albums and has played in Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Argentina, Canada, Sweden, and Germany. With Soncaribe and Swing en 4 he composed and recorded the music for the Costa Rican film "Murder at El Meneo". As a clarinetist, he has participated in several music festivals such as the “Pacific Music Festival” in Japan, the “Evian Music Festival” in France, the “Graz Music Festival” in Austria, the “Mozart International Festival” in Reunion Island and “The National Repertory Orchestra” in Colorado, USA. He has been a soloist with the Costa Rica Symphony Orchestra, the Inter-American Youth Orchestra in Puerto Rico and the
Interlochen Arts Academy Symphony Orchestra in Michigan, USA. He is the featured
composer of the 2017 North Star Music Festival.

For more information and to sample his music, visit