Bongo Passion on tour in New York
“BONGO PASSION” features the music of composers
Roberto Sierra (b. 1953), Alfonso Fuentes (b. 1954) and
Raymond Torres (b.1958), three Puerto Rico Conservatory
of Music alumni who have successfully brought the rich
culture of the Caribe into the realm of classical music.
The concert will include unique solos, duos and trios for
clarinet, bassoon, cello, piano and bongos that range
from Fuentes’ Grammy-nominated “Voces del
Barrio” for clarinet solo and “Mejunje del
fagobongo” for bassoon and bongos, to the
“Salsa on the C string” for cello and piano by
Sierra and the Hollywood-inspired trio for clarinet,
cello and piano by Torres. The lively dances of the
Caribe —bomba, plena, salsa, mambo— are a
constant inspiration in this program, which ends closer
to home, with the boogie-woogie of the Sonata by Sierra.
“Bongo Pasión,” the work for bongos by Fuentes
that gives name to the program, is a world première.
(“Mejunje del fagobongo” can be heard at www.saxtonrose.com.)
“Unlike much of the classical music written today,
which sometimes can be hard to grasp at a first hearing,
the music of Fuentes and Sierra is well rooted in
recognizable dances of the Caribe, sometimes tinted by
jazz harmonies, creating an earthy sound that can be
understood right away,” says Oskar Espina Ruiz, who,
in addition to being artistic and executive director of
Treetops Chamber Music Society in Stamford, CT, and
clarinet professor at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of
Music, is the curator of “BONGO PASSION”.
Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music website: www.cmpr.edu
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
BONGO PASSION program
Oskar Espina Ruiz, clarinet; Saxton Rose,
bassoon; Luis Miguel Rojas, cello; Andrew
Lázaro, bongos; Rafael Sueiras, piano
With composer Alfonso Fuentes
A rhythm and color filled program built around
three electrifying classical works with bongos.
This program features works by three prominent
composers and Puerto Rico Conservatory alumni:
Roberto Sierra (b. 1953), Alfonso Fuentes (b.
1954) and Raymond Torres (b.1958). The Puerto
Rico Conservatory, founded by Pablo Casals,
celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
1. Sierra: Bongo-0, for bongos (1982, rev. 2003)
2. Sierra: Con tres, for clarinet, bassoon and
piano (1990)
3. Fuentes: Voces del Barrio, for clarinet solo
(2006) (Grammy nominated)
4. Fuentes: Bongo Pasión, for bongos (2010)
World Première
5. Torres: Trio for clarinet, cello and piano
(1998)
6. Sierra: Salsa on the C string for cello and
piano (1981)
7. Fuentes: Mejunje del fagobongo, for bassoon
and bongos (2006)
8. Sierra: Sonata for clarinet and piano (2006) |
Photo: Norma Rodríguez
Photo description: (left to right, standing)
Oskar Espina Ruiz, clarinet; Rafael Sueiras,
piano; Alfonso Fuentes, composer; Saxton Rose,
bassoon; (left to right, sitting): Luis Miguel
Rojas, cello, Andrew Lázaro, bongos
Higher Resolution Download
(1.08 MB) |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
BONGO PASSION ARTISTS
Alfonso Fuentes, a composer,
pianist, poet and educator, was nominated for a
Latin Grammy in 2009 for Best Classical
Contemporary Composition. His music, which
includes works for orchestra, ensembles and
solos, has been performed by the Warsaw Symphony;
Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra; the National
Symphony Orchestra of Cuba; Aulos Wind Quintet;
Warsaw Wind Quintet; Teresa Carreño String
Quartet; members of the faculty of the
Universities of Michigan, North Carolina, the
National Conservatory of Guatemala; Camerata
Caribe and others. His music has been heard at
festivals in Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico,
Venezuela, Cuba, Holland, Germany, Austria,
Poland, Israel, England, United States and Puerto
Rico. Fuentes graduated from the Puerto Rico
Conservatory and the New England Conservatory in
Boston.
Composer Roberto Sierra (b.
1953) studied composition in Europe, notably with
György Ligeti in Hamburg, Germany. He came to
prominence in 1987 when his first major
orchestral composition, Júbilo, was performed at
Carnegie Hall by the Milwaukee Symphony
Orchestra. Since then, his works have been
performed by the orchestras of San Francisco,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Atlanta,
Houston, Dallas, Detroit, San Antonio, and
Phoenix, by the American Composers Orchestra, the
National Symphony Orchestra (United States), the
Kronos Quartet, Continuum, England's BBC
Symphony, and at Wolf Trap, the Santa Fe Chamber
Music Festival, Festival Casals of Puerto Rico,
France's Festival de Lille, the
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and Germany's
Neue Musik Bonn. Sierra's Missa Latina was
premiered at the Kennedy Center, in Washington,
D.C., conducted by Leonard Slatkin to
considerable acclaim. Sierra is a professor at
Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he
teaches composition.
Composer and conductor Raymond
Torres-Santos (b. 1958) has received
international recognition for the quality of his
musical compositions and great talents as a
pianist, arranger, producer and conductor.
Currently the Dean of the College of the Arts and
Communication at William Paterson University in
Wayne, New Jersey, Dr. Torres-Santos’
catalog of compositions range from orchestral and
chamber music, to electronic, ballet, and popular
music for film, theater, television and radio.
His compositions have been performed by major
orchestras around the world, including the
American Composers Orchestra, Boston Pops,
Pacific Symphony, Bronx Arts Ensemble, New Jersey
Chamber Music Society, Puerto Rico Symphony
Orchestra and the orchestras of Mexico City,
London and Vienna, as well as at the Casals
Festival in Puerto Rico.
Oskar Espina Ruiz has been
described by the press as a “masterful
soloist” and a “highly expressive”
clarinetist who “brings forth the notes with
an energy that reaches down to one's soul.”
Over the past nine years Espina Ruiz has
performed at major concert halls and festivals to
high critical acclaim.
Bassoonist Saxton Rose's
virtuosic and innovative interpretations of
traditional repertoire and his dedication to new
music have afforded him a prolific and varied
career as soloist, orchestral and chamber
musician. Rose is Artist/Professor of Bassoon at
the University of North Carolina School of the
Arts and the principal bassoonist of the
Winston-Salem Symphony.
Venezuelan cellist Luis Miguel Rojas
got his initial training in El Sistema as a
member of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón
Bolívar. Currently principal cellist of the
Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, he has appeared
as soloist in the United States, Europe and the
Caribe.
One of the foremost bongoists of our time, Andrew
Lázaro, a graduate of Indiana
University, has collaborated with George Crumb,
Juan Orrego Salas, Tania León and Mario Lavista.
Pianist Rafael Sueiras was
formed in Puerto Rico with Jesús María
Sanromá, Amaury Veray, Héctor Campos Parsi and
others. He has collaborated with numerous artists
and organizations, including Ópera de Puerto
Rico, Culturarte and Festival Interamericano de
las Artes. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
BONGO PASSION TOUR SCHEDULE
October 28-31, 2010
Oct 28, 2010:
3:00-4:20 PM: Composers Forum at Manhattan School of
Music, Greenfield Hall, 120 Claremont Avenue, New York,
NY 10027, tel. (917) 493-0747. Free admission. The focus
of the forum will be the works of composer Alfonso
Fuentes, Head of the Composition Dept. at the Puerto Rico
Conservatory of Music, including live performances of
three of his works, “Bongo Pasión,”
“Mejunje del Fagobongo” and “Voces del
Barrio.” The MSM Composers Forum has featured
composers such as Aaron Jay Kernis, Peter Maxwell Davies
and Helmut Lachenmann. More information at www.msmnyc.edu
6:30 PM: “Underscore” pre-concert talk with
composer Alfonso Fuentes at Symphony Space Thalia Café,
2537 Broadway (95th Street), New York, NY 10025-6990,
tel. (212) 864-5400, hosted by Artistic Director Laura
Kaminsky. Free admission. More information at www.symphonyspace.org
7:30 PM: Concert at Symphony Space Thalia Theater 2537
Broadway (95th Street), New York, NY 10025-6990, tel.
(212) 864-5400, presented by Symphony Space within its
“Sonidos” latin art festival, in collaboration
with the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. Tickets $29;
on the concert day, $34; members, $25; under 30, $15.
More information at http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/6457-bongo-passion
Oct 29, 2010:
Morning: Outreach concert organized by Symphony Space
7:00 - 8:00 PM: Concert at Loft Artists Gallery, 845
Canal St. No. 4, Stamford, CT 06902-6970, tel. (203)
323-4153, presented by Treetops CMS. Free admission. The
program includes three works by Alfonso Fuentes:
“Bongo Pasión,” “Mejunje del
Fagobongo” and “Voces del Barrio.” The art
exhibit “Pow, Punch, Zoom!” will be on display.
More information at www.loftartists.com and www.treetopscms.org
Oct 31, 2010:
4:00 PM: Concert at the newly renovated Museo del Barrio
Hecksher Theater, 1230 Fifth Avenue (Calle 104), New York
NY 10029, tel. (212) 831-7272. Tickets, $15. Organized by
La Casa de la Herencia Cultural Puertorriqueña, Inc., in
collaboration with the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music,
El Museo del Barrio and the Consulate General of Spain in
New York. More information at La Casa, (212) 722-2600 and
www.lacasapr.org, as well as at www.elmuseo.org
|
