North/South Consonance, Inc. to Host Musicians from Colombia on 11/14

North/South Consonance, Inc. kicks off its 37th consecutive season with a concert on Monday evening November 14 featuring clarinetist Javier Vinasco and the Q-Arte String Quartet.

These outstanding performers hailing from Colombia will introduce New York City audiences to recent chamber works especially written for them by Miguel del Aguila, Blas Emilio Atehortua, Celso Garrido-Lecca and Andres Posada.

The concert will take place at the intimate and acoustically superior auditorium of Christ & St Stephen's Church (120 West 69th Street) on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The free-admission event will start at 8 PM and end around 9:30 PM. The auditorium is ADA accessible. No tickets or reservations needed.

Since its inception in 1980, the North/South Consonance, Inc. has brought to the attention of the New York City public over 1,000 works by composers hailing from the Americas and elsewhere representing a wide spectrum of aesthetic views. Its activities are made possible in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs as well as contributions by numerous individual donors.

Miguel del Aguila (b. 1957; Montevideo, Uruguay) attended the San Francisco Conservatory and the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. His musical style has been described by the press as "dependably brilliant" and "sonically dazzling." His Concierto en Tango earned a Grammy nomination in 2015. De Aguila's Pacific Serenade is a romantic, quiet and delicate music that should be played at night under the stars. The quasi-improvisatory work weaves together elements derived from the blues and Brazilian folk-song.

Colombian composer Blas Emilio Atehortua (b.1943; Antioquia) studied with Alberto GInastera at the Torcuato di Tella Institute in Buenos Aires. Also active as conductor and pedagogue, his portfolio includes over 250 instrumental and vocal compositions. His four movement Quintet for Clarinet and Strings -- written at the request of Javier Vinasco -- is a great example of the composer's penchant for combining formal schemes from the Baroque Era with rhythmic and melodic elements derived from Colombian folk-music.

Peruvian Celso Garrido-Lecca (b. 1926; Piuria) was awarded the Tomas Luis de VIctoria prize in the year 2000. He studied in Peru and Chile before visiting the US during the early 1960's at the invitation of the Institute for International Education. A Guggenheim Fellowship allowed him to participate in the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Inter-American Festival held in Washington, DC. In 1965 he accepted a professorship at the University of Chile and began a fruitful artistic relationship with Victor Jara, the Nueva Cancion master. He returned to his homeland in 1975 to take the helm of the Lima Conservatory. Written in 1994, the music of Amaru (meaning "Big Serpent" in Quechua) is meant to evoke ancestral Inca culture.

Colombian Andres Posada (b. 1954, Medellin) earned an advanced degree in composition at the Mannes College of Music before returning to his homeland to establish the music department at EAFIT University. A winner of the 1989 Valentino Bucchi composition contest, his works have been performed in Europe and throughout Latin America. Helix is a one movement composition. In the manner of a helix or spiral, the music grows out of a brief motif introduced at the opening by the viola. VIrtuosic clarinet candenzas and impressive string passages propel the music to a dramatic climax eventually disappearing into silence.
MEET THE PERFORMERS

Colombian clarinetist Javier Vinasco was nominated for a Latin Grammy for his album devoted to the music of Astor Piazzolla and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Much in demand as recitalist, clinician and pedagogue, Vinasco has appeared on concert stages throughout his native country as well as in many Asian and Latin American nations. He has premiered and recorded numerous compositions written especially for him by Latin American composers. He earned a doctorate in performance at Mexico's National University and holds a professorship at the prestigious EAFIT University in Medellin, Colombia. A Vandoren artist, the press has referred to him as "a virtuoso in every sense of the word, but it is an understated virtuosity that is always in service of the music."
The Q-Arte String Quartet is one of the most innovative and exciting chamber ensembles active in Colombia. Active since 2008, it maintains an active performance schedule while also being involved in pedagogic undertakings at the Universidad Javeriana and Colombia's National University. The quartet's interpretations, full of rhythmic force, energy and precision have been described as "warm and fresh" and "exceptionally communicative." The members of the ensemble are violinists Juan Carlos Higuita and Liz Angela Garcia; violist Sandra Liliana Arango; and cellist Diego Garcia Castro.

For the complete Winter/Spring concert series schedule please visit
http://www.northsouthmusic.org/calendar.asp

To post a comment, you must register and login.