Music of the Americas: Ancient Music in the New World

Tuesday, October 20, 10 am

Argentine guitarist Carlos Wernicke started studying guitar as a child and got his degree at the Conservatorio Juan José Castro in Buenos Aires. He has participated as a soloist and chamber musician in projects spanning tango, pop, Celtic, early, classical, operatic, and contemporary music. He also studied cello, piano, harmony, composition, and counterpoint. His current activities include the transcription of early music, composition, and arranging. He was awarded First Prize in the Jorge Martínez Zárate Competition. His Partita Porteña, Tres piezas de Buenos Aires, Cien noches cerradas, and other works for solo guitar and guitar duos are published in Canada by Les Productions d'Oz.

From San Lorenzo del Escorial, he sent us Bach's famous Prelude BWV 1006. Bach's third violin prelude was later arranged for the lute by the composer himself and then categorized as 1006a. The same material was also used in the Sinfonia of Cantata No. 29 Wir Danke Dir, Herr Gott (We thank you, our God) and in Cantata BWV 120a Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge (Lord, ruler of all things). These pieces invite the listener to reflect upon the idea of Affekt, the emotion that this music can inflict upon the soul if they submit to its beauty.

Friday, October 23, 10 am

María Pilar Moreira is an Argentine musician focused on Early Music who plays plucked strings instruments and the Baroque flute. She completed her studies at the Instituto Superior de Arte of the Teatro Colón, specializing in Baroque Opera. She is the winner of the 2023 Early Music America IDEA Scholarship by which she participated in the Amherst Early Music Festival. Her passion for ancient sonorities led her to focus her musical efforts on developing her skills on period instruments and performance. She has studied with figures like Evangelina Mascardi and Ariel Abramovich. Moreira’s musical focus is not only limited to the Baroque and Renaissance periods, but also engages with Medieval musical traditions. 

From Olivos in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she sends us her performance of the Kemp’s Gigue. This anonymous work is named after Will Kemp, a famous actor who was a colleague to William Shakespeare. This gigue is an Elizabethan dance conserved in the Mathew Holmes manuscripts in Cambridge. The melody is thought to commemorate the feat of Will Kemp, who bet he could dance a morris jig from London to Norwich (about 125 miles). Kemp's wagered dancing feat took approximately nine days, spread out over about a month so he could rest and recuperate during the journey.

The MetLife Foundation Music of the Americas concert series is made possible by the generous support of Presenting Sponsor MetLife Foundation. 

The 2026–2027 series is also supported, in part, by the Howard Gilman Foundation, Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and Mid Atlantic Arts.