Catalan Independence Roundtable The Bildner Center will be holding a roundtable discussion on the current Catalan Independence movement, at the Graduate Center on November 16. The panel will discuss the movement’s background and its prospects. The Foundation for Iberian Music’s director, Antoni Pizà, will be appearing on the discussion panel. Other panelists include José Miguel Martínez Torrejón (Chair, Hispanic Languages and Literatures, Queens College), Mary Ann Newman (Director, Farragut Fund for Catalan Culture in the US) and Jordi Graupera (Research Associate, Lichtenstein Institute on Self-Determination Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University). You may register for the event at bildner@gc.cuny.edu. Thursday, November 16, 6:30 PM Room C201/02 The Graduate Center, CUNY
Newly Rediscovered Quintets: A Concert February 21 in 2018, Fundación Juan March will hold a concert at their Madrid location as a part of this season’s Aula de (Re)estrenos’s series, to re-premiere some recently rediscovered works by Tomás Bretón and Conrado del Campo. The Foundation for Iberian Music’s director, Antoni Pizà, and guest scholar María Luísa Martínez are responsible for bringing the Bretón work on the program to light. They discovered the work, among several other Bretón quintets, and prepared a critical edition, which is forthcoming on ICCMU Press. Pizà and Martínez also wrote the program notes for this concert.
Antoni Pizà Back on the Air The Foundation for Iberian Music’s director, Antoni Pizà, appeared on the Ona Mediterrània show “El Crepuscle Encén Estels” on October 15th. It was an informal visit, where Pizà and the host chatted about some of Pizà recent favorites, including jazz musicians Jacques Lousier and Friedrich Gulda, and Mozart. They discuss the flexibility of Bach’s music, as exemplified by Wendy Carlos’s synth interpretation Switched on Bach, as well as the asceticism of Bach and Cesar Franck. Pizà also ties in some current issues in US politics, such as the controversies of Columbus Day and Civil War statues. You can listen to the entire broadcast here. Pizà joins the program at the 27 minute mark.
NYC Latin American Cultural Week, Nov 10–19 In just over a week, New York City’s annual Latin American Cultural week kicks off. The festival runs November 10–19 and encompasses dozens of concerts, dance and theatrical performances, film screenings, and workshops throughout the city. One participant in this year’s festival is our own colleague Isabel Pérez Dobarro, who contributed to our Granados Celebration and is co-organizing an upcoming conference with us. Her event, “Musica Among Friends,” is Tuesday, November 14th, at 6 pm at Saint Peter’s Church. She will be performing piano works and songs from Isaac Albéniz and Enrique Granados with pianist Rosa Torres-Pardo, who will also be singing.
November NY Andalus Ensemble/Asefa Events Early in November, there are several events in the New York Andalus Ensemble family happening. Under the rubric of Asefa Music (the projects of Samuel Torjman Thomas, who directs the NYAE), there are several music lectures in the coming week, in the northeast: November 1, University of Pennsylvania: Thomas will be giving a lecture at the Traditional Jewish Food Club. (tickets) November 4, Merkin Concert Hall, NYC: Thomas will moderate a Q&A with Israeli singer Yasmin Levy. (tickets) November 5, Rutgers Film Festival, NJ: Thomas will give a musical lecture on the film On the Tigris River. (tickets) November 10, JCC Manhattan: The NY Andalus Chamber Trio kicks off the shabbat with an evening program of food and music, for only $18! (tickets) There will be more NYAE performances by both large and small ensembles in December, so be sure to check back!
Granados Celebration Concludes with a Successful Conference Last week, the conference En ocasión de María del Carmen: Enrique Granados y su época was held at the University of Murcia in Spain, concluding our Granados Celebration programming. Foundation for Iberian Music director and Granados Celebration co-chair Antoni Pizà was a member of the advisory committee for En ocasión de María del Carmen and several of the Foundation’s past and present colleagues participated in the conference. Miriam Perandones (Universidad de Oviedo), who has has been a guest researcher at the Foundation and was a member of the steering committee for the Granados Celebration, presented one of the keynote addresses, “El teatro lírico español o españolizante en la década de los 10 en EEUU: la ciudad de Nueva York. ” She was also on the conference’s advisory committee. Anna Tonna (Hispanic Society of America & Library), who is a frequent collaborator with the Foundation and served on the Granados Celebration steering committee, presented a paper, called,”‘¿Desnuda o vestida?’: Restoring context for a performance practice that recuperates Fernando Periquet’s recited text ‘La maja desnuda’ within Enrique Granados’ song ‘La maja de Goya’ from the Doce Tonadillas al estilo antiguo.” Congratulations to the committees and to our colleagues on an excellent conference, and our gratitude to all of our friends and collaborators who helped us to celebrate Granados’s centenary.
New Series, Music and Visual Cultures, from Brepols A new series edited by RCMI director and Graduate Center faculty member Zdravko Blažeković has just had its inaugural volume released by Brepols. The series, Music and Visual Cultures, will include monographs and essay collections on issues of music iconography and relations between music and the visual arts. Late Eighteenth-Century Music and Visual Culture, edited by Cliff Eisen and Alan Davidson, is the first book in the series, and it includes an essay by Blažeković himself. It is available directly through Brepols for 85€ or from major book retailers.
Antoni Pizà On Radio IB3 Foundation for Iberian Music director Antoni Pizà appeared this past Sunday on Radio IB3’s program La Ruta d’Orfeu, where he met with the host for an informal chat about some selections of music that he has been listening to recently. They discuss Nina Simone, Bach’s chorale Ich ruf zu dir, and the classical works of classical/jazz pianist Friedrich Gulda. Listen to October 15th’s broadcast here. Pizà joins the program around the 16:00 mark.
Angel Gil-Ordoñez’s Recent Lou Harrison Recording Released in Spain Earlier this year, Naxos released a recording of Lou Harrison works by Washington DC’s PostClassical Ensemble. Lou Harrison is one of the great early American modernist composers, and one of the first composers to incorporate elements of “world” music in his work, an influence which can be heard especially in his Grand Duo for violin and piano. The album, Lou Harrison: Violin Concerto / Grand Duo / Double Music (with John Cage), was recorded live in 2016 and features soloists Tim Fain (violin) and Michael Boriskin (piano). It was recently released in Spain and has received mention in some of Spain’s major music periodicals. Ritmo gave the recording four stars (out of five), and Scherzo featured it in their list of October’s “exceptional recordings,” calling it “a simply magnificent disc.” Read the reviews by clicking the images below: Do yourself a favor and take the opportunity to become better acquainted with a wonderful American composer. PostClassical ensemble is directed by Angel Gil-Ordoñez, who is a featured guest director of our resident Perspectives Ensemble.