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.
Great Reviews for “Escuchar Con Los Ojos” As we announced last fall, Foundation director Antoni Pizà contributed materials to Fundación Juan March’s recent exhibit, “Escuchar con los Ojos: Arte Sonoro en España (1961-2016),” including an essay in the exhibition catalog. The exhibit has received numerous accolades, but we would like to highlight a couple of radio programs featuring the exhibit. First, Catalunya Ràdio interviewed exhibit curator José Iges last October, and you can listen to the full program here. Second, Miguel Álvarez-Fernández, who has previously collaborated with the Foundation, reviewed the exhibit in the Christmas Special of his show Ars Sonora, on Radio Nacional de España (RNE). Álvarez-Fernández is a sound-artist himself and gave a lecture at the Graduate Center last year, entitled “A Historical Overview of Electroacoustic Music and Sound Art in Spain,” while in town for an exhibit at the Instituto Cervantes.
The Lost Soundtrack of “Redes” In 1935, Mexico’s new progressive government commissioned a film and the result was Redes, written and directed by New York-born Paul Strand, with a score from Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. Though “one of the most beautifully photographed films ever made,” Redes has remained little known, owing in part to the poor quality of surviving prints. Revueltas’ score, too, is considered some of his finest work, but there has been no recording available, beyond the deteriorated film prints. When the film was recently restored by Martin Scorsese’s foundation, Angel Gil-Ordóñez’s PostClassical Ensemble was asked to re-record the score, at last filling the void. Gil is the director of both the PostClassical Ensemble and NYC’s Perspectives Ensemble, which in residence at the Foundation for Iberian Music and has collaborated to put on numerous concerts, including many world premieres. Under Gil’s direction, these ensembles do not present mere concerts, but always connect them in historical context. (As case in point, PostClassical Ensemble’s recent festival “Music Under Stalin: An Immersion Experience,” which is conducted in conjunction with the Washington Jewish Music Festival and the National Gallery, is just winding down.) The Ensemble’s new recording of Redes is available on Naxos. The restored film, complete with newly re-recorded score, is being shown May 4 at the Americas Society, where the Foundation’s director Antoni Pizà is a former board member. A performance of the film suite is in the works. You can learn more about the restoration and the Ensemble’s involvement through both Naxos and Criterion Collection, at the above link.
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.
Music Inspired by Art: Goyescas at Baruch New York residents will have another opportunity to hear some Granados this month, at a concert exploring music inspired by paintings. February 23 at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, acclaimed pianist Yoonie Han will be performing Granados’ Goyescas, a suite based upon the paintings of Goya, and premiering the third and final work in Theodore Wiprud‘s suite, Sargent’s Women. The new work is Miss Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, and this will be the first performance of the suite in its entirety. The concert will be accompanied by a discussion with art historian Gail Levin. Tickets are $35. If purchasing tickets online, $10 discount is available to CUNY community members with promo code JD10. Student tickets are available at the door for $15. Thursday, February 23, 2017 at 7:00PM Engleman Recital Hall 55 Lexington Ave New York, NY 10010 Entrance on 25th between Lexington & 3rd Ave
Sonograma Magazine Expands to Include Peer Review Revista Sonograma, “a magazine of musical thought and cultural dissemination,” recently expanded their scope to include peer reviewed articles, under the direction of Carme Miró. Antoni Pizà, director of the Foundation for Iberian Music, is delighted to partner with this new offshoot as a member of the review committee. Additional partners include ESMUC, Biblioteca de Catalunya, Departament d’Enseyament, and Palau de la Música. All research content is digital/online only, like the primary magazine. Articles are posted regularly, as new contributions are available, and include Catalan, Spanish, and English language content.