Guzmán Naranjo was a conductor and composer who wrote music for chamber ensembles, soloists, and symphonic orchestras. Among his most recognized works are “The Water Mass” (based on Colombian Pacific rhythms), “River of the Dead” (about the Colombian civil war), and the operas “Isaacs” (about poet Jorge Isaacs) and “Maafa” (about the African diaspora).

Guzmán Naranjo was also a professor at the Universidad del Valle for decades.

As a young student, he studied under Maestro Léon J. Simar and studied in Paris. He studied composition at the Schola Cantorum under Pierre Doury and under maestros Max Deutche and H. C. Fantapié. He also studied with Boulez, Dominique Jameux, and Philippe Manoury.

He later became Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Antioquia, the Banda Sinfónica del Valle, director of the Compañía Lírica de Bogotá and director of the Orquestas: Sinfónica de Colombia, Filarmónica de Medellín y Sinfónica del Valle.

Other positions included Director of the Coral Palestrina and professor at the Conservatorio Antonio María Valencia, among others.

He is survived by his wife Ximena, his children Isabel and Matías.