Free “Redes” Screening and Concert Thursday As we previously announced, the Americas Society is holding the NY premiere screening of the lost Mexican film Redes (1937), May 4th at 7 pm. It is free to the public, but you must register, as space is limited. The screening will include two special treats: first, the Foundation for Iberian Music’s resident Perspectives Ensemble will perform two works by Revueltas (who composed the Redes score); and second, a panel discussion with Joseph Horowitz (PostClassical Ensemble, executive director) and Angel Gil-Ordóñez (principal guest conductor of Perspectives Ensemble), moderated by Carlos Gutierrez of Cinema Tropical. For full program information and to register, please visit the Americas Society’s event page.
CFP: “En ocasión de María del Carmen: Enrique Granados y su época” (Murcia, Spain) The University of Murcia is hosting a conference October 18-20, 2017, entitled “En ocasión de María del Carmen: Enrique Granados y su época.” The Foundation for Iberian Music is delighted to participate in this conference; our own Antoni Pizà is a member of the organizing committee. Please click here to view the full CFP. (The CFP will soon be available in English.) Proposals will be accepted until September 15. Please submit proposals to enrique.encabo@um.es.
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.