Season 2018-19, Program October 18, 2018

Ensemble CONCEPT/21

Jorge A. Muñiz, Director

Caleb Wenzel, Conductor

Chicago Latino Music Festival

“Celebrating American Latino Composers”

October 18, 2018, 7pm

The Music Center Concert Hall

1014 S. Michigan Ave.

Columbia College Chicago

Levante, for solo piano (2004) Osvaldo Golijov

Jennifer Muñiz, piano

Facetada, for flute, clarinet, and piano Gustavo Leone (2007)

I. Danza del Altiplano

III. El Charanguista Viejo

VII. Yaravillosa

VIII. Bombines

Sherry Kujala, flute

Christopher French, clarinet

Jennifer Muñiz, piano

Hilos, (2010) Gabriela Lena Frank

for piano, clarinet, violin, and violoncello

Christopher French, clarinet

Jameson Cooper, violin

David Machavariani, violoncello

Jennifer Muñiz, piano

Cancionero Sefardí (1999) Roberto Sierra

for voice, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano

1. A la una nací yo (At one I was born)

2. El mi querido bevió vino (My lover drank wine)

3. Al kenar de la nixava (Around the corner)

4. Pregoneros van y vienen (Town criers come and go)

5. Una matica de ruda (A little plant of rue)

6. Dolores tiene la reina (The queen has pains)

7. Avridme galanica (Open up for me, beautiful girl)

Jessica M. Roberts, soprano

Sherry Kujala, flute

Christopher French, clarinet

Jameson Cooper, violin

David Machavariani, violoncello

Jennifer Muñiz, piano

Ensemble CONCEPT/21 – About this concert

Ensemble CONCEPT/21 (EC/21), a new music ensemble at Indiana University South Bend thrives in performing and presenting music of the 21st century to new audiences, with a special emphasis in featuring works by young composers from the Midwest.

EC/21 is recognizing the great talent of American composers of Latino heritage in a concert on Thursday, October 18, 2018 at 7pm, including works by Gabriela Frank, Osvaldo Golijov, Gustavo Leone, Jorge Muñiz, and Roberto Sierra.

Jessica M. Roberts, soprano

Jessica M. Roberts, coloratura soprano, is an up-and-coming artist of stunning vocal agility and musical prowess. She delights in being a versatile musician in both solo and choral settings, with experience in opera, oratorio, concert, recital, and chamber work, in nearly everything from early to new music.

Jessica earned her Master of Sacred Music from the University of Notre Dame (2016) and her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Ball State University (2014). She is on the roster for Chorosynthesis, a Seattle-based new music choral ensemble, which is preparing to tour and record a double album in January. She also sings a variety of repertoire for graduate student recitals with the Notre Dame Recital Choir, and has sung several multimedia/interdisciplinary productions with the Notre Dame Vocale under the direction of Carmen-Helena Tellez, including Voices of Light by Richard Einhorn (from The Passion of Joan of Arc), Mendelssohn’s Elijah, “Journeying La Divina Commedia, an International Dante Project,” and “Music, Courage and Remembrance: An Inter-Artistic Event of Dance, Art and Singing in Celebration of the Music of Shulamit Ran.” She also performed two solo recitals and one Renaissance chamber music recital as part of her graduate studies at Notre Dame.

Jessica made her opera debut with Ball State Pocket Opera in 2013 as Nella in an English production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. She covered the role of Cunegonde for Notre Dame Opera’s 2015 production of Bernstein’s Candide, and is excited to perform the Queen of the Night in Notre Dame Opera’s production of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) in Spring 2017. Jessica brought to life the role of Mary Magdalene in Howard Terrell’s new oratorio, “Sing a New Song Unto the Lord” with the Fort Wayne Heartland Chamber Chorale in 2014 under the direction of Maestro Robert Nance. Over the last few years, she has been an in-demand soloist in multiple oratorios and sacred masterworks in the Michiana area, and she has both studied and performed across the United States and in Salzburg and Rome, including Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Apart from her vocal pursuits, Jessica is an incredibly well-rounded musician, playing organ, piano, violin, guitar, and other instruments. She has conducted performances of her own choral compositions, and she is a licensed music educator of children. As an active member of Sigma Alpha Iota, Collegiate NAfME (President), IMEA, and ACDA, Jessica was honored as the 2014 Outstanding Future Music Educator of the Year and served as president of her collegiate NAfME chapter. She is currently full-time Director of Music and Liturgy at Christ the King Catholic Church in South Bend, IN, and is on the adjunct voice faculty at Saint Mary’s College. She was Co-Director of the Notre Dame Descant and Seraphim choirs for two years, and learns a lot from teaching students of all ages. In her free time, she enjoys Catholic theology, talk radio, craft beer, and spending time outdoors. In the future she hopes to travel more, continue teaching music, and pursue a specialization in performing early and chamber/choral music.

Caleb Wenzel, conductor

Caleb Wenzel (b. 1988, Fort Worth, Texas) maintains a diverse career as a composer, conductor, and keyboard artist. Caleb’s work as a composerhas garnered awards from numerous professional, amateur, and educationalensembles and organizations including American Choral Director’s Association,Texas Music Teacher’s Association, Arlington Music Teacher’s Association, andThe International Foundation for Sacred Music Composers. He has recently received commissions from Minnesota Center Chorale, Church of the Little Flower (Bethesda, MD), and the Schola Cantorum of theDominican Priory of the Immaculate Conception (Washington, DC). His music has recently been performed by the American Creator’s Chorus, the National Catholic Youth Choir, Xavier University Liturgical Choir andBrass Ensemble, Nolan Catholic High School Choir, Tabor College SymphonicOrchestra, and The Catholic University of America Symphony Orchestra.

In 2012, Caleb was selected to participate in an American choral composers seminar jointly hosted by ACDA and Library of Congress. As a result, his work, Ecce Agnus Dei, was premiered by Princeton Singers at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington DC. In 2014, Caleb’s work Come, You Blessed of my Father was premiered at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium under the direction of GRAMMY-winning conductor, Craig Hella Johnson.

An emerging authority on the role of music in worship, Caleb has composed extensively for liturgical praxis. In 2011, Caleb was selected to address members of the Minnesota State Congress on the cultural significance of musicin religious congregations, and in 2012, he was selected to lecture at University of Notre Dame’s international sacred music conference, James MacMillan and the Musical Modes of Mary and the Cross. In addition to his liturgical compositions, Caleb is currently preparing the first complete performance edition of the Latin Psalm motets of Sebastian Knüpfer, music director of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany from 1657 to 1676.

An accomplished pianist and organist, Caleb has performed recitals across the United States and is frequently noted for his expressively and instantaneous connection with audiences of all ages. As a member of Great Noise Ensemble, Washington DC’s premier new music ensemble, Caleb was regularly involved with composers and conductors from across the country, frequently championing word premier performances. From 2012-2013, Caleb served as University Organist for The Catholic University of America, playing for university liturgies at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. In that time, his work as an organist was frequently broadcast live worldwide. Before holding his position at The Catholic University of America, Caleb held a similar position as adjunct associate organist at St. John’s Abbey. While at St. John’s Abbey, Caleb frequently appeared with the St. John’s Boys’ Choir, performing as the organist for their 30th anniversary recording, Endless Song.

Caleb holds a BA cum laude with distinction in music composition and piano performance from Saint John’s University (Collegeville, MN), a Master of Music in Sacred Music from The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC), and is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts student in choral conducting at University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN) under the mentorship of acclaimed Venezuelan-American conductor Carmen-Helena Téllez. At Notre Dame, Caleb also works closely with Nancy Menk, Paul Walker, and Daniel Stowe. Previous teachers have included Leo Nestor, Robert Koopmann, Axel Theimer, Andrew Weaver, Brian Campbell, and Jo Boartright. He has studied liturgical theology under the guidance of Anthony Ruff, Dominic Sera and Michael Driscoll. He has done additional studies in orchestration under Tony-nominated orchestrator Larry Blank. At Notre Dame, Caleb sings in Notre Dame Vocale, the resident professional choir for Sacred Music @ Notre Dame, and serves as the graduate assistant for the Notre Dame Collegium Musicum.

Composers’ Biographies

Osvaldo Golijov grew up in an Eastern European Jewish household in La Plata, Argentina. Born to a piano teacher mother and physician father, Golijov was raised surrounded by classical chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music, and the new tango of Astor Piazzolla. After studying piano at the local conservatory and composition with Gerardo Gandini, he moved to Israel in 1983, where he studied with Mark Kopytman at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy and immersed himself in the colliding musical traditions of that city. Upon moving to the United States in 1986, Golijov earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with George Crumb, and was a fellow at Tanglewood, studying with Oliver Knussen.

In the early ‘90s, Golijov began to work closely with two string quartets—the St. Lawrence and the Kronos. Both ensembles were the earliest to project Golijov’s volatile and category-defying style in its true, full form. In 2002, EMI released Yiddishbbuk, a Grammy-nominated CD of Golijov’s chamber music, celebrating ten years of collaboration with the St. Lawrence String Quartet, featuring clarinetist Todd Palmer. The St. Lawrence String Quartet has continued their collaboration into the new decade, premiering the composer’s Qohelet in 2011. The Kronos Quartet released three recordings featuring their collaborations with Golijov: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, featuring David Krakauer, as well as Caravan and Nuevo. Kronos also expanded Golijov’s musical family through collaborations with artists such as the Romanian Gypsy band Taraf de Haidouks, the Mexican Rock group Café Tacuba, tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, and legendary Argentine composer, guitarist and producer Gustavo Santaolalla, with whom Golijov continues to collaborate. For over a decade, Golijov has been inspired by the voice of Dawn Upshaw, for whom he composed several works, including the Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, the opera Ainadamar, the cycles Ayre and She Was Here, and a number of arrangements.

In 2000, the premiere of Golijov’s La Pasión según San Marcos (St. Mark Passion) took the music world by storm. Commissioned by Helmuth Rilling for the European Music Festival in Stuttgart, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of J.S. Bach’s death, the piece featured the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela with the Orquesta La Pasión (specially assembled for this work by Golijov together with percussionist Mikael Ringquist), all conducted by Maria Guinand. The CD of the premiere of this work, on the Hänssler Classic label, received Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations in 2002. La Pasión has since toured the world, and a recording on CD and DVD of the work was released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2010. For the premiere of Ayre, Golijov founded another virtuoso ensemble: The Andalucian Dogs. Together with Dawn Upshaw, they premiered the piece at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and recorded it on a Grammy-nominated CD for Deutsche Grammophon in 2005. In 2006, Deutsche Grammophon released the recording of the opera Ainadamar, featuring Dawn Upshaw, Kelley O’Connor and Jessica Rivera singing the principal roles, and the Atlanta Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Robert Spano—an artist and friend who has worked closely with Golijov for over a decade and who conducted the world premiere of the opera, as well as the American premiere of the La Pasión. The record earned two Grammy awards: for best opera recording, and best contemporary composition.

Golijov has received numerous commissions from major ensembles and institutions in the US and Europe. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and the Vilcek Prize among other awards. In addition to the artists mentioned above, he collaborates closely with conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya; vocalists Luciana Souza and Biella da Costa; cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Alisa Weilerstein, Maya Beiser and Matt Haimovitz; the Kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor and percussionist Jamey Haddad; also with multitalented musicians such as Michael Ward-Bergeman, Gonzalo Grau, Ljova, Jeremy Flower and Cristina Pato; ensembles including the Atlanta Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Silk Road Ensemble, and eighth blackbird; the artist Gronk, playwright David Henry Hwang, and directors Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Sellars. The latter staged sold-out and critically acclaimed runs of Ainadamar at the Santa Fe Opera and Lincoln Center.

Composer Gustavo Leone is a Professor at the Department of Fine and Performing Arts of Loyola University Chicago. His principal composition teachers included Gerardo Gandini, Marta Lambertini, Ralph Shapey, Shulamit Ran, and John Eaton. He also studied electronic music with Howard Sandroff. Leone is a recipient of a Walter Hinrichsen Award given by the American Academy of Art and Letters. His music is included in the catalogs of C.F. Peters, New York, Toccata Classics, and Naxos Recordings. Ensembles such as Cuarteto Q-Arte, Grant Park Festival Orchestra, the Symphonic Orchestra of Michoacán, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, amongst others, have played and commissioned Leone’s works. His work for the theater includes productions at the Yale Repertory Theatre, the Goodman Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, and Teatro Vista.

Jonathan Woolf has said on Music Web International “Leone’s is a versatile voice in the contemporary firmament.”

Andrew Patner, writing for the Sun-Times has said “Gustavo Leone’s ‘Absurdopera’ a comedic gem.’

Identity has always been at the center of Gabriela Lena Frank‘s music. Born in Berkeley, California, to a mother of mixed Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent, Frank explores her multicultural heritage most ardently through her compositions. Inspired by the works of Bela Bartók and Alberto Ginastera, Frank is something of a musical anthropologist. She has traveled extensively throughout South America and her pieces reflect and refract her studies of Latin American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own. She writes challenging idiomatic parts for solo instrumentalists, vocalists, chamber ensembles, and orchestras.

Moreover, she writes, “There’s usually a story line behind my music; a scenario or character.” While the enjoyment of her works can be obtained solely from her music, the composer’s program notes enhance the listener’s experience, for they describe how a piano part mimics a marimba or pan-pipes, or how a movement is based on a particular type of folk song, where the singer is mockingly crying. Even a brief glance at her titles evokes specific imagery: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout; Cuatro Canciones Andinas; and La Llorona: Tone Poem for Viola and Orchestra. Frank’s compositions also reflect her virtuosity as a pianist — when not composing, she is a sought-after performer, specializing in contemporary repertoire.

This season, Frank serves a composer-in-residence to both the Houston Symphony for who she wrote Karnavalingo to welcome incoming music director Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. A 2009 recipient of the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship to assist in research and artistic creation, Frank’s recent premieres include Will-o’-the-Wisp for piccolo player Mary Kay Fink and the Cleveland Orchestra; Saints for The Berkeley Symphony, soprano Jessica Rivera and the San Francisco Girls Chorus; and Concertino Cusqueño for the Philadelphia Orchestra. A frequent collaborator with artists in other disciplines, Frank has developed a number of projects with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban playwright Nilo Cruz, among them La Centinela y la Paloma (The Keeper and the Dove), a song cycle for Dawn Upshaw and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Journey of the Shadow for the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. Other recent premieres include Nocturno Nazqueño for the New York International Piano Competition; Hilos for the Alias Chamber Ensemble; Puntos Suspensivos for Ballet Hispanico; Inca Dances for guitarist Manuel Barrueco and Cuarteto Latinoamericano — which received a 2009 Latin Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition; New Andean Songs for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella new music series; Peregrinos for the Indianapolis Symphony; and Two Mountain Songs for a consortium comprised of the Young People’s Chorus of New York, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and Anima.

Frank attended Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she earned both a B.A. (1994) and M.A. (1996). She studied composition with Paul Cooper, Ellsworth Milburn, and Sam Jones, and piano with Jeanne Kierman Fischer. Frank credits Fischer with introducing her to the music of Ginastera, Bartók, and other composers who utilized folk elements in their work. At the University of Michigan, where she received a D.M.A. in composition in 2001, Frank studied with William Albright, William Bolcom, Leslie Bassett, and Michael Daugherty, and piano with Logan Skelton.

For more than three decades the works of 5 time Grammy nominated American Composer Roberto Sierra have been part of the repertoire of many of the leading orchestras, ensembles and festivals in the USA and Europe. At the inaugural concert of the 2002 world renowned Proms in London, his Fandangos was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a concert that was broadcast by both the BBC Radio and Television throughout the UK and Europe. Many of the major American and European orchestras and international ensembles have commissioned and performed his works. Among those ensembles are the orchestras of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, New Mexico, Houston, Minnesota, Dallas, Detroit, San Antonio and Phoenix, as well as the American Composers Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the Spanish orchestras of Madrid, Galicia, Castilla y León, Barcelona, Continuum, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Opus One, and others.

Commissioned works include: Concerto for Orchestra for the centennial celebrations of the Philadelphia Orchestra commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation and the Philadelphia Orchestra; Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for James Carter; Fandangos and Missa Latina commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC; Sinfonía No. 3 “La Salsa”, commissioned by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Danzas Concertantes for guitar and orchestra commissioned by the Orquesta de Castilla y León; Double Concerto for violin and viola co-commissioned by the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Orchestras; Bongo+ commissioned by the Juilliard School in celebration of the 100th anniversary; Songs from the Diaspora commissioned by Music Accord for Heidi Grant Murphy, Kevin Murphy and the St. Lawrence String Quartet; and Concierto de Cámara co-commissioned by the the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest and Stanford Lively Arts.

In 2003 he was awarded the Academy Award in Music by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The award states: “Roberto Sierra writes brilliant music, mixing fresh and personal melodic lines with sparkling harmonies and striking rhythms. . .” His Sinfonía No. 1, a work commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, won the 2004 Kenneth Davenport Competition for Orchestral Works. In 2007 the Serge and Olga Koussevitzky International Recording Award (KIRA) was awarded to Albany Records for the recording of his composition Sinfonía No. 3 “La Salsa”. Roberto Sierra has served as Composer-In-Residence with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and New Mexico Symphony. In 2010 he was elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Roberto Sierra’s Music may be heard on CD’s by Naxos, EMI, UMG’s EMARCY, New World Records, Albany Records, Koch, New Albion, Koss Classics, BMG, Fleur de Son and other labels. In 2011 UMG’s EMARCY label released Caribbean Rhapsody featuring the Concierto for Saxophones and Orchestra commissioned and premiered by the DSO with James Carter. In 2004 EMI Classics released his two guitar concertos Folias and Concierto Barroco with Manuel Barrueco as soloist (released on Koch in the USA in 2005). Sierra has been nominated twice for a Grammy under best contemporary composition category, first in 2009 Missa Latina (Naxos), and in 2014 for his Sinfonia No. 4 (Naxos). In addition his Variations on a Souvenir (ALbany) and Trio No. 4 (Centaur) were nominated for Latin Grammys in 2009 and 2015.

Roberto Sierra was born in 1953 in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, and studied composition both in Puerto Rico and Europe, where one his teachers was György Ligeti at the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, Germany. The works of Roberto Sierra are published principally by Subito Music Publishing (ASCAP).

Gustavo Leone: Facetada

Facetada is an 11 minute-long piece for flute, clarinet, and piano. It has two movements, the first one is mostly free or non-metric; the second one is more regular and metric. The first movement opens with a solo for the flute, followed by a piano transition that leads to a solo for the clarinet. A duo for flute and clarinet follows with the piano playing sound effects. In this case, the music is metric with internal fluctuations of rhythm. Another piano-based transition leads to a calm theme that closes the movement. The second movement is in a regular meter and makes use of recurrent rhythmic patterns. The opening section presents the main thematic material and reaches a climax with an improvisational section. After returning to the main theme the music collapses unto a climax made of ad libitum, loud and soloistic instrumental parts. In the final section of this movement a calm theme that recalls the end of the first movement alternates with the main theme in collage form. A coda made of little bits of previous musics closes the movement.

Gabriela Lena Frank: Hilos

Hilos (Threads, 2010), written for the ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, is scored for clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Alluding to the beauty of Peruvian textiles, both in their construction and in their pictorial content of everyday life, the short movements of Hilos are a kind of Peruvian “pictures at an exhibition.” Players are mixed and matched in various combinations, and draw on a myriad of sounds evocative of indigenous music. These include fanciful pizzicatos and widely-spaced tremolos suggesting guitar-like instruments, strong attacks and surging releases suggesting zampona panpipes and quena flutes, glissandi and scratch tones suggesting vocal coloristic effects, and so forth. The movements are:

1. Canto del Altiplano (Songs of the Highlands): A bold piano opening of tremolos sets up rhapsodic lines decorated with the strong attacks and releases one would hear in highland wind instruments.

2. Zapatos de Chincha (Shoes of Chincha): This light-footed movement is inspired by Chincha, a southern coastal town known for its afro-peruano music and dance (including a unique brand of tap). The cello part is especially reminiscent of the cajon, a wooden box that percussionists sit on and strike with hands and feet, extracting a remarkable array of sounds and rhythms.

3. Charanguista Viejo (Old Charango Player): The charango, a ukulele-like instrument traditionally constructed with an armadillo shell, is evoked through tight broken chords and odd tremolos in the piano part alongside quick pizzicato notes in the violin. The violin also has a highly emotional melody line decoration with hints of scratch tones to convey the sounds of an old man’s voice as he accompanies himself singing.

4. Danza de los Diablos (Devil Dance): A tribute to the devil dances of the southern Puno regions of Peru, this movement features “stompy” rhythms, quick dissonant grace notes and a general boldness of spirit.

5. Zumballyu (Spinning Top): A musical depiction of a popular children’s toy in Quechua Indian culture.

6. Juegos (Games): A romp inspired by the teasing games that children play.

7. Yaravillosa: A play on the words “maraviollosa” (marvelous) and “yaravi” (an ancient melancholy Inca song), this movement especially draws on glissandi, tremolo, and surges to evoke typical vocal performance practices.

8. Bombines (Bowler Hats): A humorous dance in homage to the ubiquitous bowler hats worn by mountain women. The “karnavalito” rhythm punctuates throughout.

Gabriela Lena Frank

The music of Jorge Muñiz has been performed by American and European orchestras, chamber ensembles, and performers from Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Singapore, Australia, and the United States.

Opera Oviedo commissioned Muñiz to compose a three-act opera, entitled Fuenteovejuna (based on the play by Lope de Vega with a new libretto by Javier Almuzara) for the opening of the house’s 71st anniversary season in 2018-2019. The opera was the first mainstage production to be commissioned by the company in its history.

In October 2010, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra presented the world premiere of Requiem for the Innocent, written in remembrance of victims of terrorism around the world, featuring baritone soloist Ivan Griffin and five choruses. Jack Walton of the The South Bend Tribune called the work “a magnificent oratorio… a creation that is profound, mature and well-proportioned.”

Recent premieres of commissioned works include Stabat Mater Speciosa (written to benefit Hannah’s House women’s home of Mishawaka, IN) with the South Bend Chamber Singers; a new concerto for alto sax and orchestra, Motown Dreams, for GRAMMY^® winner, saxophonist Timothy McAllister; and Portraits from the Heartland for award-winning classical guitarist Adam Levin. Other recent premieres include his Piano Quintet No. 2, The Mississippi for Cuarteto Quiroga and pianist Javier Perianes, and his Piccolo Sonata: Homage to Francis Poulenc, for flutist Roberto Álvarez, premiered at the 2013 Australian Flute Festival.

Most recently, Muñiz’s solo cello work, Behold the Lamb of God, was released on Crossings: New Music for Cello [Furious Artisans, 2015] by cellist Kate Dillingham and La Nueche de San Xuan on La Noche: 21st Century Music for Flute & Harp [Independent, 2011]by Roberto Álvarez, flute, and Katryna Tan, harp.

Jorge Muñiz received his master’s in music composition from Carnegie Mellon University where he studied with Leonardo Balada and his doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music with Richard Danielpour. Dr. Muñiz is currently Professor of Music – Composition and Theory, at the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend.

Jorge Muñiz: Duende, Fantasy for Chamber Ensemble

Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca defined “Duende” as “a power, not a work.” He adds “It is a struggle, not a thought. I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, ‘The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.’ Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation.”

Duende, Fantasy For Chamber Ensemble was commissioned by the Mizzou New Music Ensemble for their 2012-13 season. It brings raw elements of three flamenco styles: saeta, soleá, and bulerías. These three styles articulate the composition for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, piano, and two percussionists (one of them solely handclapping -or palmas, as it is called in flamenco). From the almost improvisatorial and sober saeta (a Holy Week processional cante jondo -deep singing, from the South of Spain), the soleá develops, based on the basic flamenco compás –style/meter-of 12/8 (as 6/8 plus 3/4). Tempo progressively evolves in this lyrical section into the last part of the composition, bulerías, where the extrovert and rhythmically exuberant dance takes, like an ancient spirit over the music and the musicians and the scene becomes a flamenco gathering of celebration and enthusiasm, like an improvised tablao flamenco.

Roberto Sierra: Cancionero Sefardí (Sephardic Songs)

The sheer beauty and the poignant melodic structures in the music from the Sephardic tradition has captivated me since I heard the first Ladino song. In Cancionero Sefardí I didn’t want to do a mere “arrangement”, but to rather recreate these melodies within my own musical language. In the instrumental accompaniment I took as point of departure the harmonies suggested by the tunes, transforming them with microtonal inflections. To add an element of percussion to the “Pierrot” formation, the piano is “prepared” in two of the songs. In the sources where I found the material some of the melodies appeared only as fragments, to which I added music in order to complete the songs.

Roberto Sierra: Cancionero Sefardí (Sephardic Songs)

Texts

A la una nací yo. At one I was born.

At one I was born,

at two I grew up,

at three I was affianced

at four they married me off.

Tell me, child, from whence

you come?

For I wish to know you.

And, if you have no lover,

I shall be your defender.

Soul, life and heart.

El mi querido bebió vino. My lover drank wine.

My lover drank wine.

He lost his aim.

There under the trees,

taradari, taradám…

Al kenar de la nixava. Around the corner.

Around the corner

everything is green.

Fair and handsome boy,

turn back.

That there is no girl

better than this one.

There is the girl,

she is very sad.

Pregoneros van y vienen. Town criers come and go.

Town criers come and go

around the city of Aragon.

Every male that has a son

to war must go.

Town criers come and go.

Let me tell you mother what happened today.

A boy went to war,

she is a daughter

and not a son.

Una matica de ruda. A little plant of rue.

A little plat of rue

a little flower plant.

I got it from a boy

who fell in love with me.

My dear daughter

Don’t succumb to damnation.

A bad husband is worth more

than a young lover.

Mother, a bad husband,

the pinch and the curse.

Mother, a young lover,

the apple and the good lemon.

Dolores tiene la reina. The queen has pains.

The Queen has pains.

She can not endure them.

When she laid down to give birth,

and asked for help.

Her mother-in-law heard her

from high towers.

Go, daughter-in-law,

to give birth with your father.

Avridme galanica. Open up for me, beautiful girl.

Open up for me, beautiful girl

dawn is coming.

I will open right away,

my beautiful love.

Tonight I won’t sleep

thinking of you.

My father is reading

he will hear you.

Blow out his candle,

and he will fall asleep.

My mother is baking

she will hear you.

rock her chair,

and she will fall asleep.

Levante, for solo piano Osvaldo Golijov (2004)

Jennifer Muñiz, piano

Facetada, for flute, clarinet, and piano Gustavo Leone (2007)

I. Danza del Altiplano

III. El Charanguista Viejo

VII. Yaravillosa

VIII. Bombines

Sherry Kujala, flute

Christopher French, clarinet

Jennifer Muñiz, piano

Hilos, for piano, clarinet, violin, and violoncello Gabriela Lena Frank (2010)

Christopher French, clarinet

Jameson Cooper, violin

David Machavariani, violoncello

Jennifer Muñiz, piano

Cancionero Sefardí, for voice, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano Roberto Sierra (1999)

1. A la una nací yo (At one I was born)

2. El mi querido bevió vino (My lover drank wine)

3. Al kenar de la nixava (Around the corner)

4. Pregoneros van y vienen (Town criers come and go)

5. Una matica de ruda (A little plant of rue)

6. Dolores tiene la reina (The queen has pains)

7. Avridme galanica (Open up for me, beautiful girl)

Jessica M. Roberts, soprano

Sherry Kujala, flute

Christopher French, clarinet

Jameson Cooper, violin

David Machavariani, violoncello

Jennifer Muñiz, piano

Ensemble CONCEPT/21 – About this concert

Jessica M. Roberts, soprano

Caleb Wenzel, conductor

Caleb Wenzel (b. 1988, Fort Worth, Texas) maintains a diverse career as a composer, conductor, and keyboard artist. Caleb’s work as a composer

has garnered awards from numerous professional, amateur, and educational

ensembles and organizations including American Choral Director’s Association,

Texas Music Teacher’s Association, Arlington Music Teacher’s Association, and

The International Foundation for Sacred Music Composers.

He has recently received commissions from Minnesota Center Chorale,

Church of the Little Flower (Bethesda, MD), and the Schola Cantorum of the

Dominican Priory of the Immaculate Conception (Washington, DC).

His music has recently been performed by the American Creator’s Chorus,

the National Catholic Youth Choir, Xavier University Liturgical Choir and

Brass Ensemble, Nolan Catholic High School Choir, Tabor College Symphonic

Orchestra, and The Catholic University of America Symphony Orchestra.

Composers’ Biographies

Jonathan Woolf has said on Music Web International “Leone’s is a versatile voice in the contemporary firmament.”

Andrew Patner, writing for the Sun-Times has said “Gustavo Leone’s ‘Absurdopera’ a comedic gem.’

Gustavo Leone: Facetada

Gabriela Lena Frank: Hilos

1. Canto del Altiplano (Songs of the Highlands): A bold piano opening of tremolos sets up rhapsodic lines decorated with the strong attacks and releases one would hear in highland wind instruments.

5. Zumballyu (Spinning Top): A musical depiction of a popular children’s toy in Quechua Indian culture.

6. Juegos (Games): A romp inspired by the teasing games that children play.

8. Bombines (Bowler Hats): A humorous dance in homage to the ubiquitous bowler hats worn by mountain women. The “karnavalito” rhythm punctuates throughout.

Gabriela Lena Frank

Jorge Muñiz: Duende, Fantasy for Chamber Ensemble

Roberto Sierra: Cancionero Sefardí (Sephardic Songs)

Roberto Sierra: Cancionero Sefardí (Sephardic Songs)

Texts

A la una nací yo. At one I was born.

At one I was born,

at two I grew up,

at three I was affianced

at four they married me off.

Tell me, child, from whence

you come?

For I wish to know you.

And, if you have no lover,

I shall be your defender.

Soul, life and heart.

El mi querido bebió vino. My lover drank wine.

My lover drank wine.

He lost his aim.

There under the trees,

taradari, taradám…

Al kenar de la nixava. Around the corner.

Around the corner

everything is green.

Fair and handsome boy,

turn back.

That there is no girl

better than this one.

There is the girl,

she is very sad.

Pregoneros van y vienen. Town criers come and go.

Town criers come and go

around the city of Aragon.

Every male that has a son

to war must go.

Town criers come and go.

Let me tell you mother what happened today.

A boy went to war,

she is a daughter

and not a son.

Una matica de ruda. A little plant of rue.

A little plat of rue

a little flower plant.

I got it from a boy

who fell in love with me.

My dear daughter

Don’t succumb to damnation.

A bad husband is worth more

than a young lover.

Mother, a bad husband,

the pinch and the curse.

Mother, a young lover,

the apple and the good lemon.

Dolores tiene la reina. The queen has pains.

The Queen has pains.

She can not endure them.

When she laid down to give birth,

and asked for help.

Her mother-in-law heard her

from high towers.

Go, daughter-in-law,

to give birth with your father.

Avridme galanica. Open up for me, beautiful girl.

Open up for me, beautiful girl

dawn is coming.

I will open right away,

my beautiful love.

Tonight I won’t sleep

thinking of you.

My father is reading

he will hear you.

Blow out his candle,

and he will fall asleep.

My mother is baking

she will hear you.

rock her chair,

and she will fall asleep.