Cirilo Vila Castro (7 October 1937 – 23 July 2015[1]) was a Chilean composer, pianist, and academic, and the winner of the National Prize for Musical Arts in 2004.
In the early 1960s, thanks to a grant from the Italian government, he traveled to Rome to study conducting at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory with Professor Franco Ferrara.
Between 1964 and 1969, he took private lessons in musical composition with Professor Max Deutsch and analysis with composer Olivier Messiaen.
He has written for nationally renowned artists such as the guitarist Luis Orlandini, the horn player Edward Brown, tenor José Quilapi and pianist Cecilia Plaza, among others.
In over 50 years of activity he wrote works for different genres ranging from orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, to soloists.