Thursday – Saturday, September 27 – 29 (see schedule below); Presented by Nonsequitur and Washington Composers Forum with support from Meet The Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections program, City of Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, and Viva la Musica Club. Read the Seattle Times’ preview.
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month the Seattle Latin-American Music Festival offers three nights of music for solo instruments, chamber ensemble, and electronic media by contemporary composers hailing from Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Conceived and organized by pianist Cristina Valdés, the inaugural SLAM festival features composer-in-residence Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez, and some of the Seattle area’s most dynamic classical instrumentalists.
The festival kicks off on Sept. 26 at 7:30 PM with a free talk by composer-in-residence Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez at Benaroya Hall’s Soundbridge, sponsored by the Viva la Musica Club. Born in Mexico City in 1964, Sánchez-Gutiérrez grew up in Guadalajara, and later studied at the Peabody Conservatory, Yale University, Princeton, and Tanglewood under Henri Dutilleux, Jacob Druckman, and Martin Bresnick. He is currently Associate Professor of Composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
CONCERT SCHEDULE:
Thursday, September 27, 2007 @ 8PM
Solo Piano Extravaganza with pianists Amy Rubin, Oksana Ezhokina, Cristina Valdés, Harumi Flesher, and Chadd Merrigan. music informed by the tango and cowboy traditions of Argentina by Piazzolla and Ginastera, moves to the folk traditions of Mexico in the music of Sánchez-Gutiérrez, and includes the spacious music of Jacinto Garcia, influenced by Morton Feldman. Tania León’s work is a synthesis of her Cuban and American identities. Program:
Three Preludes – Astor Piazzolla
Piezas Imaginarias – Roberto Sierra
Danzas Argentinas – Alberto Ginastera
Momentum – Tania León
A Deux Mains – Mauricio Kagel
Simurg – Mario Lavista
Resonancia – Orlando Jacinto Garcia
Mano a Mano – Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez
Friday, September 28, 2007 @ 8PM
Seattle Chamber Players with friends Ben Hausmann (oboe), Michael Jinsoo Lim (violin), Matthew Kocmieroski and Rob Tucker (percussion), and Cristina Valdés (piano). The second concert offers a rich evening of chamber music, including Barroso’s music for clarinet and tape, lyrical oboe writing from Sánchez-Gutiérrez, and an arresting quartet by Ecuadorian composer Campos. A discussion with composers Zohn-Muldoon, Sanchez-Gutierrez, and Barroso will follow the intermission, moderated by composer and Seattle Weekly writer Gavin Borchert. Program:
Jácaras – Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon
Two Portraits – Eddie Mora Bermudez
Quartet – Jorge E. Campos
Sandunga – Sergio Barroso
M.E. in Memoriam – Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez
Saturday, September 29, 2007; panel discussion 7:30 PM, concert 8 PM
Electro-Acoustic Works + More Chamber Music with flutist Paul Taub, violist Melia Watras, violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim, viola, piano and electronics ensemble Dúo Juum, and pianist Cristina Valdés. The closing night of the festival features one of the great masters of electronic music, Mario Davidovsky, and includes the fresh new compositional voices of Juan Pampin and Nicolas Varchausky, and a new work by Dúo Juum. Pre-concert discussion with composers Pampin, Varchausky, and Hugo Solis of Dúo Juum, moderated by Chris DeLaurenti, composer and columnist for The Stranger. Program:
Twittering Machines for flute and piano – Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez
Synchronisms No. 9 for violin and tape – Mario Davidovsky
Nada for viola and live electronics – Juan Pampin
The Chapel Sessions (live feedback set and visuals) – Nicolas Varchausky
Instante crónico; La equivocación de una hoja; Tornillos de la memoria – Dúo Juum