On June 6, Jose Lezcano performed the US premiere of his second double concerto, Sojourner, for flute, guitar and strings as part of the North/South Consonance series at Christ & St. Stephen’s Church in New York City. Lezcano shared the stage with flutist Lisa Hansen; the three-movement work—soon to be released by Cayambis Music Press—was conducted by Max Lifchitz. The work was premiered this past February 3 in Cuba during the “Identidades” International Guitar Festival by Lezcano, flutist Antipe di Stella and the Orquesta de Solistas de Habana, conducted by Iván Valiente.
Sojourner, second movement.
Yesterday, composer and percussionist
Alvaro Ponce de León performed for the launch of the first compact disc by Merian, a young singer who is quickly gaining great popularity in Peru.
Luis Pérez Valero wrote to inform us that this week he will be presenting a paper on aesthetics and music during the Second Encounter of Research on the Arts in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Next week, the Fifth International Symposium on the History of Masonry in Latin America will be taking place in Havana, Cuba, at which Juan López-Maya’s paper, “Música, Masonería y Poder en la Venezuela del Siglo XIX” will be read. (But by someone else: it’s very difficult to get out of Venezuela these days!)
Seven Colors of the Rainbow, by Armando Luis Ramírez, is a work for clarinet choir that seeks to capture the events that occurred last year at The Pulse in Orlando, Florida. Premiered last month in Puerto Rico, the work is scheduled to receive its US premiere on June 30 in Orlando, during the International Clarinet Association Convention.
Federico Núñez will be performing a recital of works by Carlos Guastavino on July 1 at the Masonic Temple in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Finally, clarinetist Maurita Murphy Marx will be performing a lecture/recital on the Brazilian choro at the College Music Society International Conference in Sydney, Australia, that is being held from July 9 through July 13. And even more exciting, she says that she will be joined by guitarist extraordinaire Stanley Valacos!
