Alumni Spotlight: Fabricio Cavero Farfan

Fabricio Cavero Farfan (M.M. ’15) is this week’s featured alum in our new Alumni Spotlight series for the This Week at Meadows e-newsletter. Each week, a different Meadows alum will be highlighted for their accomplishments post-graduation.

Music has taken Fabricio Cavero Farfan across disciplines and continents, from conducting orchestras in Peru to exploring the relationship between sound, technology and human health at the University of California, Irvine. Throughout that journey, the music composition alum has drawn on the interdisciplinary foundation he developed at Meadows, where opportunities to collaborate with other artists broadened his understanding of what a career in music could become.

While pursuing his master's degree in music composition, Cavero Farfan found inspiration in the creative environment at Meadows. Collaborating with students outside of the Division of Music encouraged him to explore new artistic possibilities, while opportunities to conduct his own compositions and work with faculty strengthened his confidence as a musician.

“The fact that the different art programs coexist in the same building allowed me to connect with other disciplines,” says Cavero Farfan, who credits his Meadows education with preparing him to adapt to new artistic and academic challenges. “My multidisciplinary spirit flourished at SMU, thanks to the opportunity to bond and collaborate with students from the dance and theatre departments.”

After graduating, Cavero Farfan returned to his hometown of Cusco, Peru, where he formed a student symphonic orchestra and choir before continuing his work as an educator and conductor in Lima. His interest in traditional Peruvian instruments and music technology eventually led him to Argentina, where he studied how Indigenous musical traditions could be combined with modern electronic tools.

That exploration continued at UC Irvine, where Farfan earned a Ph.D. and developed an experimental opera titled The Primeval Poet. Combining music, sculpture, and technology, the work features a kinetic sound sculpture made from wood and clay that incorporates traditional Andean instruments and uses water and gravity to produce sound. Through the opera, Cavero Farfan explores different cultural perspectives on nature, bringing Indigenous knowledge into conversation with contemporary artistic and scientific practices.

His work has also opened doors to medical research at UC Irvine, where he is investigating the relationship between sound, brain activity and healing. Working with researchers at the university's No Pain Lab, Farfan is studying how drumming practices associated with Indigenous traditions may influence mental states and contribute to a better understanding of non-opioid approaches to pain management. 

Although his research has moved beyond traditional composition, Cavero Farfan sees a direct connection to the creative flexibility he developed at Meadows. Courses in arts management, conducting, and music theory, along with opportunities to collaborate across disciplines, helped prepare him to pursue projects that combine artistic expression with other areas of study.

“The two years I spent at SMU as a master's composition student provided me with the preparation for being adaptive, incorporating other practices and disciplines,” he explains, encouraging current students to embrace and explore the resources available at SMU. “Find intersections of interest in other schools. I got involved with the engineering lab, where I had experiences that inspired me years later.”

As an international student, Cavero Farfan also remembers the encouragement he received from professors and classmates and the inspiration he found in SMU's message, “World changers shaped here.” The phrase resonated with his desire to connect the communities that have shaped his career, particularly as he seeks ways to share his knowledge with his hometown of Cusco.

From traditional Peruvian instruments to experimental opera and scientific research, Cavero Farfan's path reflects the possibilities that emerge when artistic curiosity extends beyond a single discipline. The willingness to explore those connections, first nurtured at Meadows, continues to shape his work and his understanding of what music can contribute to the world.

Learn more about the Division of Music here.