Luis Diego Herra Rodríguez

Luis Diego Herra Rodríguez, born in San José on 23 February 1952, is one of the leading figures of Costa Rican art music in the second half of the twentieth century, both as a conductor and as a composer. His training combined local teaching with periods in Europe, where he attended courses and workshops for further study.

He studied at the Conservatorio Castella, where he completed his musical studies in 1969, and later obtained a degree in conducting from the University of Costa Rica in 1978. Several years later, in 1985, he completed a further qualification, this time in composition, with Benjamín Gutiérrez and Bernal Flores as his teachers. In Europe, he attended the Summer Academy in Nice and received composition and analysis lessons from Malec and Jolas at the Paris Conservatoire in 1982.

From 1982 he has taught at the University of Costa Rica, where he served as Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts between 1994 and 1998. As a conductor, he led the Orquesta Juvenil de Costa Rica in 1981–82 and taught conducting and composition to its members between 1982 and 1985. He was also assistant conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in 1983–84 and has worked as a guest conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Costa Rica. He has conducted ensembles throughout Central America and in France.

His output as a composer encompasses symphonies, chamber music, works for solo instruments, and music for ballet and theatre. He twice received the Aquileo J. Echevarría National Music Prize: in 1984, for Hálitos for brass quintet and tape, and in 1990, for his Symphony No. 1.

His legacy endures chiefly through his university teaching and his symphonic and chamber works, which hold a significant place in the contemporary Costa Rican repertoire.