MUSE • Musicians United for Social Equity

Biography

Gonzalo is a composer, lyricist, arranger, orchestrator, copyist, music director, accompanist, actor, and former high school physics teacher. He is a Chilean immigrant who came to the US at the age of 7. The journey from being undocumented to citizen took him over 20 years. Having dealt with America’s flawed immigration system firsthand, he believes deeply in pushing for comprehensive immigration reform that is fair and leads with compassion.

As a composer, Gonzalo has two decades of experience writing for pop/rock artists, musicals, and cabarets. His work has been performed at 54 BELOW,  THE DUPLEX, BERGEN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, DON’T TELL MAMA NYC, NJIT, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY and MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY. Currently, he is working on a few different projects, one of which is GOBLINS & GATES, a new D&D-inspired musical you can listen to on all streaming platforms. The show was originally developed at MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY in 2018. Since then the show has been a 2023 NMTC finalist at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and the full concept album will be released by the end of 2024.

As a music director, you can find him rockin’ out downtown as the MD/arranger/orchestrator for the off-Broadway Spanish hit musical at Repertorio, “La Llamada” (HOLA Awards Nominee for Outstanding Production of a Musical), written by Javier Ambrossi y Javier Calvo. Also, the past few summers Gonzalo had the privilege of working with Papermill Playhouse as a MD/arranger/orchestrator/copyist for their New Voices Concerts.

He is currently an adjunct at Montclair State University as a collaborative pianist. Over the years he has served as an MD/conductor/pianist/keyboard programmer/contractor (aka “music department”) for 100’s of musicals all around the NJ/NY area. Some of his personal favorites include PARADE, SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, DROWSY CHAPERONE, CABARET, RENT, IN THE HEIGHTS, VIOLET, DREAMGIRLS, LEGALLY BLONDE, and GYPSY!

As an actor, some of his favorite roles in TICK, TICK… BOOM! (Jon), IN THE HEIGHTS (Usnavi), SWEENEY TODD (Sweeney), and AVENUE Q (Nicky).

Currently, Gonzalo lives in NJ just a few miles outside NYC. He is happily married to his incredible partner Danielle, loves hangin’ with his cat Mila, hiking, cooking, and playing games (board games, video games, role playing games, etc.). Let’s make some music together! =)