Pre-concert Lecture at the Church of St. Luke in the Fields 6 December 2012: Director Antoni Pizà will give a pre-concert lecture for the Christmas program at the Church of St. Luke in the Fields at 7pm on December 6. The concert is “Puer Natus Est: A Royal Christmas in Tudor England” and the program will feature the magnificent seven-voice Missa Puer natus est by Thomas Tallis, most likely composed especially for Christmas 1554, in celebration of Mary Tudor’s supposed pregnancy, and will include motets by Tallis, Byrd, and Sheppard, along with carols from the period. The concert begins at 8pm and will be followed by a gala reception. December 6, 2012 Pre-concert lecture 7pm, Concert 8pm Laughlin Hall 487 Hudson St. New York, NY For more information: 212-924-0562 info@stlukeinthefields.org
East Meets West, West Meets East: An Exploration of the Music of al-Andalus 5 December 2012: The Foundation for Iberian Music is pleased to welcome back renowned early-music specialist Carles Magraner and members of his ensemble Capella de Ministers for a special event on December 5 at the Graduate Center’s Segal Theatre. Part I Colloquium and Roundtable, 12 pm Carles Magraner and members of the Capella de Ministrers will conduct an open discussion moderated by Antoni Pizà on the present and future of the cultural industries, their new models for development, professionalization, and directions, as well as other issues pertaining to period-instrument ensembles, early-music, and world-music festivals, historical repertoire and oral traditions, as well as artists who participate in both types of music-making events. Part II Master Class and Workshop, 6 pm Carles Magraner and the members of Capella de Ministrers The CUNY Middle Eastern Music Ensemble / The New York City Al-Andalus Ensemble at CUNY Renowned early-music specialist, Carles Magraner will lead a workshop with members of his own period-instrument ensemble, Capella de Ministrers, and members of the CUNY Middle Eastern and Al-Andalus Ensembles. This is a unique opportunity to see a gathering of musicians from different musical traditions and cultures. The workshop will include a talk by Mr. Magraner followed by an open rehearsal and performance of some relevant repertoire from the Judeo-Muslim-Christian Medieval Iberia we well as contemporary Mediterranean and Middle Eastern oral traditions. This event is free and open to the public, no reservations required. East Meets West / West Meets East Part I: Colloquium and Roundtable, 12pm Part II: Masterclass and Workshop, 5pm The Segal Theatre Wednesday December 5th The Graduate Center – The City University of New York 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 11220 (@34th Street)
Globalization and Hybridization Processes in Music: Rumba Catalana Spring 2013: The Foundation for Iberian Music and the Mompou Chair are hosting a Spring immersion seminar “Globalization and Hybridization Processes in Music: Rumba Catalana.” This seminar explores a particular style of music known as rumba catalana, a lively, urban music genre. The rumba catalana developed in Barcelona’s Romani community beginning in the 1950s. Its rhythms are derived from the flamenco rumba, with influences from Cuban music and rock and roll. The Catalan rumba originated in the Catalan Romani communities in the Gràcia, carrer (street) de la Cera del Raval and Hostafrancs neighborhoods. The Romani community in those neighborhoods is long-established and Catalan-speaking. The seminar will examine this style and its genres combining approaches associated with ethnomusicology, historical musicology, and popular music studies. In addition to many listening examples, the seminar will consider the following scholarly writings: “La Música entre Cuba y España”, María Teresa Linares / Faustino Núñez, Madrid Fundación Autor, 1998. “La rumba histórica y los bailes tradicionales de los gitanos catalanes”, Manuel Ponsa i Blanch, I Tchatchipen No. 30. Sabor de rumba: Identitat social i cultural dels gitanos catalans, David Iglésias i Xifra et al. (Lleida Pagès: 1995). Zur Musik südfranzösischer Manouches und Gitans: Stilbereiche und sozialgeschichtlicher Hintergrund, Ekkehard Jost, 2002. Estàndards de la rumba catalana, vol. 1, Martí Marfà. Barcelona: Cossetània Edicions, 2011. Also, students will listen to Peret, Gato Perez, and more names of rumba catalana. More information to follow.
Summer Course at Besalú: Medieval Music Performance (12th-14th c.) 19 September 2012: The Summer immersion course 1st International Course on Medieval Music Performance (12th-14th c.) Besalú (July 9-14, 2012) was a tremendous success. Students attended from diverse areas, such as Japan, Belgium, Canada, Catalunya, Mexico, and Portugal. Below, there are links to YouTube videos of the students’ performance during the course. “Luto carens et latere” “Flos ut rosa floruit” “Tierche estampie roial” “A chantar” “Al’entrada del temps clar”
Music and Avantgarde in Postwar Barcelona: Schoenberg’s Legacy and the Second Avantgarde 1 October 2012: Antoni Pizà, director of the Foundation for Iberian Music will be a guest lecturer for a class in the Spanish and Portuguese Department of New York University “Barcelona: Images of a Modern (Mediterranean) Metropolis,” taught by Professor Jordana Mendelson. The course examines the city’s contemporary status as a modern metropolis through issues of Catalan identity, literature, film, music, and other arts. Professor Pizà will discuss Schoenberg’s stay in Barcelona and the compositions he wrote there. Some of the artistic outgrowths from this sojourn include Juan Eduardo Cirlot’s poetry and music, the movement Dau al Set, Club 49, the Generation of 1951, and jazz culture in postwar Barcelona. “Music and Avantgarde in Postwar Barcelona: Schoenberg’s Legacy and the Second Avantgarde” Monday, October 1, 11:00 am NYU Silver Center room # 409 31 Washington Place New York, NY 10003
Cannibal Famine: Metaphors of Hunger and Violence in Nação Zumbi 3 October 2012: The Foundation for Iberian Music is sponsoring the lecture “Cannibal Famine: Metaphors of Hunger and Violence in Nação Zumbi” by Melcion Mateu at City College. This lecture concentrates on the poetics of Nação Zumbi’s and examines the metaphors –often stated in their lyrics, but implemented in their music–, that inform them. Celebrated at the moment of its appearance as one of the most promising bands of the 1990s, Chico Science and Nação Zumbi became the epicenter of a phenomenon known as manguebit or manguebeat –a musical style, or perhaps better, a musical scene that changed the way youngsters from Pernambuco regarded themselves, their landscape, and their culture. Nação Zumbi continues to this day despite the loss, in 1997, of its charismatic leader, vocalist and co-lyricist, Francisco de Assis França (Chico Science) of a car accident during Carnival. The band inscribes itself in the anthropophagist tradition that goes from Oswald de Andrade to Tropicália, as well as a longstanding Northeastern aesthetics of hunger and famine with revolutionary purposes. “Cannibal Famine: Metaphors of Hunger and Violence in Nação Zumbi” 7:30 pm – October 3, 2012 CWE/CCNY – Conference Room 25 Broadway New York, NY Free, No Reservations Required Mateu is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures at New York University and specializes in Modernism in Brazilian literature and music. His dissertation explores the continuity of the avant-garde during the 1940’s and early 50’s in Spain, and pays special attention to two groups, Postismo and Dau al Set, as well as the influential role of Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto. His areas of interest are Modern Spanish Literature and Culture (1888-1975), with stress on the literary and artistic avant-garde and the Post Civil-War period, as well as Luso-Brazilian and Catalan studies, and theoretical issues such as intermediality, avant-garde theory, aesthetics and politics. Additionally, Mateu was awarded the Octavio Paz Poetry Award in 1998 for Ningú, petit, which pays tribute to Little Nemo, the early 20th century comic-strip character by Winsor McCay, and Jardí amb cangurs.
The New York Andalus Ensemble: Call for New Members 4 September 2012: The New York Andalus Ensemble is an NYC-based community ensemble that specializes in repertoire from the Andalusian and North African regions. The ensemble welcomes people from all levels of musical backgrounds to participate– instrumentalists and vocalists, professional and amateur. See the flyer below for more information about practice and how to become a member, or go directly to the ensemble’s website or Facebook page.
Launch of Xenakis Discography 1 September 2012: The Xenakis Project of the Americas is pleased to announce the launch of a new discography which aims to document all commercial recordings of Iannis Xenakis’s oeuvre. Full information can be viewed here.
Antoni Pizà Guest Speaker at Benefit Concert 20 August 2012: Antoni Pizà was the guest speaker at a benefit concert in Finca A l’Auba, Manacor, Mallorca on August 3. The concert was a benefit that promotes culture and arts with a special attention to youth, and the proceeds were given to groups that assist adults and children with mental and physical disabilities, as well as drug addiction. Some of the non-profit organizations that received help from this benefit concert include: Aproscom, Estel de Llevant, Tip-Tap, Can Gazà, and Cáritas Manacor.
Perpectives Ensemble Montsalvatge CD Fundraiser 20 August 2012: In celebration of Xavier Montsalvatge’s Centennial, the artist-in-residence, Perspectives Ensemble, is hosting a fundraiser for its recording of five works by Montsalvatge. The CD will commemorate the great Catalan composer and support the work of this excellent ensemble. All donations are tax deductible. To donate, click here.