Baroque Spanish Opera In NYC The New York City Opera, which has made a successful comeback since closing in 2013, will soon present the second item in its Opéra en Español series: Antonio de Literes y Carrión’s Los Elementos. Los Elementos is an allegorical drama about the four elements, written in 1713 for the court of Phillip V. This performance will be the opera’s NY premiere. It is directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford and conducted by Pacien Mazzagatti. The Foundation for Iberian Music’s director, Antoni Pizà, advised the NYCO’s production and wrote program notes for it. In 2002, Pizà published Antoni Literes: Introducció a la seva obra (Palma Documenta Balear), which to date is the only monograph available on Literes, in any language. Literes was a prolific composer but he is best remembered for his stage works, particularly his zarzuelas. Thanks to the efforts of opera companies such as the NYCO to showcase “lost” and little-performed works, he has the chance to emerge from the shadows of history and find a new audience. The opera opens May 4 at Harlem Stage. Visit the above link for tickets.
Gesualdo Online Presentation Today, the Brook Center sponsored a talk at the Graduate Center by Phillipe Vendrix (François Rabelais University, President) concerning Gesualdo Online. Gesualdo Online is a project of the Programme Ricercar at the Centre for Renaissance Studies in Tours. It invites musicologists from around the world to collaborate in creating digital editions of Gesualdo’s music. Vendrix’s talk explores the project’s work and the role of open source critical editions.
Upcoming NY Andalus Ensemble Concerts The Foundation for Iberian Music’s own resident New York Andalus Ensemble has several performances upcoming in the NYC area! May 4: East x Middle East Festival, Brooklyn Music School 6 pm – “Meet the Instruments” pre-concert workshop, with light refreshments 7 pm – concert, with NYAE, Zikrayat, and Vatan. Tickets are $20 ($15 student) for workshop & concert , or $15 ($10 student) for only the concert May 15: Cedarhurst, NY, full ensemble concert Sephardic Temple of Cedarhurst, 7:30 pm May 20: Yonkers, NY, concert and tasting tour Nahmias et Fili Distillery, 3:00 pm, $20 (presumably this event is restricted to ages 21+)
Free/Public Events at the Zapateados Conference Our conference, Transatlantic Malagueñas and Zapateados in Music, Song, and Dance, begins this Thursday, April 6th, at UC Riverside. The entire conference is free and open to the public and we hope that friends in the area will join us, but there are several multimedia events in the program that may be of more general interest. The conference itself begins at 8:30 am in the CHASS Building South. You can view the whole program here. Each day has its own keynote address: Thursday, Constance Valis Hill (Hampshire College) will deliver her paper, “Zapateados: Tracing the Diaspora of African-derived Drum Dance Forms in the New World;” Friday, acclaimed musician Raúl Rodríguez will deliver his, “Razón de Son: Creative AntropoMúsica and Ida y Vuelta Afro-Flamenco.” Wednesday, 7:00 pm · Concert Speaking of Raúl, we are launching the proceedings with a pre-conference party: an Intimate Gathering & Benefit Performance with Raúl Rodríguez & Mario Mas. Tickets are $40 and directly benefit our conference presenters and their expenses. Thursday, 8:30 pm · Film Screening CHASS Interdisciplinary Building, South Screening Room, INTS Room 1128 To wrap up our first night, we will have a screening of Gurumbé: Canciones de tu Memoria Negra with director, anthropologist Miguel Ángel Rosales. Gurumbé is a feature-length documentary exploring the history and artistic contributions of Afro-Andalusians. Friday, 11:40 am · Film Screening CHASS South, INTS 1113 As a part of a session on “Resilience and Recontextualization in Diasporic Communities,” we will screen short film, Invisible Roots: Afro-Mexicans in Southern California, followed by a discussion with director Lizz Mullis and producer Tiffany Walton. Friday, 8:00 pm · Lecture Recitals and Gran Fandango / Open Jam Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts Concluding our conference is a collection of lecture performances. First up, pianist Adam Kent will present his talk, “From España to Iberia: returning the Malagueña to Málaga,” which will be illustrated as Anna de la Paz dances the Zapateado de María Cristina. Next, Melissa Moore and Fernando Barros will present “Island Life and Conservation of Culture,” with performances of flamenco guitar and song. Admission is free; tickets are required and may be reserved at the Culver Center website. For more program information, visit the above links. Last but not least, our final night of performances will culminate in an open Gran Fandango. All are welcome to attend this open dance, so wear your dancing shoes, bring your castanets or other instruments, and come ready to sing!
“The Challenges of Transatlantic Sound Art:” Video Last week’s symposium and exhibition of Spanish sound art is now up in our YouTube channel! Thanks to our presenters and performers for their fascinating talks. The presentations were followed by a brief discussion on some of the issues and difficulties facing sound art and contemporary composition (including academia’s continued failure to promote study of electronic sound production). The concert consisted of portions of many new works (including those of our presenters), featuring Pau Vila, performing “Món per Pau,” and ending with Victor Aguado, performing “Samples from Richard Garet in Frequency Order.” Vila’s work is a provocative and interesting combination of pre-existing electronic works of his own, and by other composers, with his own live performance. He performs on a variety of percussion instruments, including found objects, which are placed throughout the stage area, creating kinetic and spatial components that are not often found in electroacoustic music.
Pre-conference Party with Grammy-nominated Guitarist, Raúl Rodríguez If you are attending our upcoming Zapateados conference at UC Riverside, or if you just happen to be a Spanish guitar fan who lives in or near Riverside, don’t miss this intimate pre-conference show with Raúl Rodríguez! Raúl Rodríguez is an extraordinary musician and storyteller who situates local traditions from southern Spain within the frames of popular music, transatlantic travels, and the African diaspora. He will be accompanied by Spanish guitarist Mario Mas, whose fusions of classical and folkloric styles are perceptive and honest. We will gather to be inspired by their artistry and vision up close in an intimate setting at a beautiful home in downtown Riverside. Rodríguez has been recognized with a Grammy nomination (2007), the “Best European Album” award from the BBC Radio World Music Awards (2008), and his recent solo album Razón de Son was recognized as one of the best albums of 2014 by a number of media outlets (including RockdeLux, Mondosonoro, Rolling Stone, Efeeme, El País, World Music Charts Europe, AireFlamenco, Betto Arcos, Diario Folk, DeFlamenco…). Tickets are $40. Come enjoy a great performance while getting to pretend that you’re nobility invited to chamber music at court and helping to support our international conference guests.
Zapateados Conference Program Now Online The full program for our upcoming conference at UC Riverside, Transatlantic Malagueñas and Zapateados in Music, Song, and Dance is now available! Click the preview below to view or save the PDF.
Sound Art Festival Next Week Next week, the AMEE’s (Asociación de Música Electroacústica y Arte Sonoro de España) sound art festival begins in NYC! The festival opens March 16 with a symposium and concert at the Graduate Center. At 6 pm, Foundation director Antoni Pizà, Daniel Neumann (artist), Jaime Oliver (NYU Waverly Lab), Ferrer-Molina (AMEE, president), and Douglas E. Geers will discuss “The Challenges of Transatlantic Sound Art.” A concert, with performances by Neumann, Oliver, and Ferrer-Molina, and Pau Vila will follow the discussion at 7 pm. Click here for the full program of the symposium and concert! Pizà, apart from being the director of the Foundation, helped to organize Sound v. Sense: Intersection, a sound art installation at the Instituto Cervantes, and contributed essays and material to an upcoming Sound Art exhibition at the Fundación Juan March in Madrid. Oliver is a professor of composition at NYU and co-directs the Waverly Labs for Computing and Music. Geers is co-director of Brooklyn College’s Center for Computer Music. This event is free. It will be held at the Graduate Center’s Proshansky Auditorium. The festival will conclude March 18th at Roulette at 8 pm. Tickets are $15 ($10 student/senior). (A previous version of this post listed the location of the March 18th concert as the Fridman Gallery; the venue has since changed.)
Film Screening, Lecture-Dance-Recital, and Gran Fandango Our upcoming 2-day conference April 6–7 at UC Riverside, Transatlantic Malagueñas and Zapateados in Music, Song, and Dance, will cap each day with a special multi-media presentation. ♦ The first day, April 6, will feature a screening of Gurumbé–Canciones de tu Memoria Negra, a film by Miguel Ángel Rosales (in Spanish and Portuguese, with English subtitles). Flamenco is synonymous with Spanish culture. Since its inception, theorists have sidelined the fundamental contribution of Afro-Andalusians. Commercial exploitation of the American colonies brought hundreds of Africans to Seville to be sold as slaves, forming a population who over time managed to gain space in a society wrought with racial prejudices. Music and dance were a fundamental part of their expression and the most important affirmation of their identity. As the black population began to disappear from Spain in the late 19th century, so too did their contribution to this extraordinary art form. In Gurumbé, their story is finally told. Rosales is an anthropologist and an award-winning documentary filmmaker. His short films La Maroma (2011) and Atrapados al vuelo (2012) have won several awards around the world, including Cortos for Caracoles (Spain), Bahía Blanca (Argentina), Latinoamerican Festival (Argentina) and Luz en los márgenes (2013). Gurumbé is Miguel’s first feature film. ♦ Day 2, April 7, will culminate in a series of lecture recitals and, to top off the conference, an open gran fandango for all willing participants. First, pianist Adam Kent will give a musical lecture, “From España to Iberia: returning the Malagueña to Málaga,” featuring dancer Anna de la Paz, who will perform the Zapateado de María Cristina. Second, Melissa Moore and singer Fernando Barros will present “Island Life and Conservation of Culture,” a lecture-recital on flamenco guitar and song. Finally, there will be an open gran fandango / footwork jam for all who would like to participate, so bring your dancing shoes and your castanets!
Granados Celebration in Albuquerque The Granados Celebration is heading to Albuquerque for an entire week of festivities! Join our good friends Douglas Riva and Walter A. Clark for a week of lectures and recitals, culminating in a performance of Cant de les estrelles at the Cathedral of St. John, with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico and Riva. Cant de les estrelles was recently performed to great success in NYC by the Voices of Ascension. Cant de les estrelles tickets range from $10 to $35. Present a valid student ID for a FREE ticket. (Free!) All tickets include admission to the pre-concert lecture with Granados authority Walter A. Clark. and astro-physicist Patricia Henning. Most events are free and open to the public. See either festival webpage (linked above) for full details.