[3] At the age of 18 he entered the National Conservatory of Music,[3] where he studied clarinet with Francisco Garduño [es][4] and composition with Mario Lavista.

He was a founding member of Sonic Arts Network and served as the artistic director of the Society for the Promotion of New Music in 1993.

[6] After living in England for 25 years, Álvarez returned to Mexico where he served as Dean of the Conservatorio de Las Rosas [es] in Morelia, Michoacán.

Winner of a Prix Ars Electronica distinction, the piece blends and juxtaposes elements of Korean music with materials and performance techniques drawn from the Mexican folk harp.

The work Offrande (2001) offers a mix of Caribbean steel pans and electronically processed rhythmic patterns.

[14] Álvarez received numerous prizes and honors including a Mendelssohn Scholarship in 1986, the Lionel Robbins Award, a Gemini Fellowship,[4] the ICEM Prize in 1987 and an award at the Bourges International Festival,[9] Austria's Prix Ars Electronica several times, in 1993 for Mannam.

[1][10] Alejandra Frausto, the federal Secretary of Culture, credited him as a "musician and composer who never stopped creating, proposing and working for his community and for his beloved Mérida".