Luis Mario Ruelas (b. 1992), young emerging Mexican composer, whose voice bridges the gap between contemporary language and the folkloric idiom. His compositions span a wide range of instrumentation: including solo piano, cello and guitar duets, chamber ensembles, vocal works, and orchestral pieces, with premieres in both the United States and Mexico.

 

Winner of the First Orchestra Readings organized by Mexico's National Symphony Orchestra in 2024, he is also the recipient of the 2021 Young Creators Grant (Beca Jóvenes Creadores) from the Mexican National Endowment for Culture and Arts (FONCA).

 

Likewise, Luis was also a scholarship recipient from the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation in 2016 and 2017; winner of the 2017 OperaMaya International Composition Competition; and finalist that same year of the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. In 2015 he was awarded Honorary Mention at the 63rd BMI Student Composer Awards. 

 

In September 2025, Luis had his Bellas Artes debut with the world premiere of his piece Fantasía-Tumbao, performed by Mexico's National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Ludwig Carrasco.

 

Past projects include Luis’s collaboration with the Boston-based Unitas Ensemble in the premier of his commissioned work Resilience: Music for Thirteen Musicians; working with American oboist Sara Rener, who commissioned the work for solo oboe Capri 204 for the CD release of the album Oboe Unfolded; as well as working with Boston-based Mexican guitarist Zaira Meneses who commissioned him the suite for guitar Suite Latinoamericana.

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Luis holds a Master of Music in Composition from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Don Freund and Claude Baker. Likewise, he holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition from the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA, under the mentorship of John Mallia and Stratis Minakakis. Currently, he is a faculty member at Arkansas State University Campus Querétaro.