Music of the Americas: En Casa and Recuerdos

April 9: Early Music

The GEMAS series, which Americas Society has been presenting in collaboration with Gotham Early Music Scene since 2012, is dedicated to early music from the hemisphere, and to the musicians from the region that bring this repertoire to life. Uruguayan-American soprano Nell Snaidas (my musical sister from the Eastern shore of the River Plate; Arriba la Celeste!) joins me in curating it, and we both occasionally perform in the series. During the 18th century, the Jesuits developed a web of towns (called Reducciones) in the Bolivian lowlands. As it was customary, religious arts, and music in particular, were greatly developed in these unique communities. The Jesuits were expelled from the region in 1767, but the towns persisted, and a lot of the music that was used in them survived to our days.

The first piece in this week's Recuerdos video is the lovely Zuipaqui Santa María which comes from this musical collection, one of the largest gathering of baroque music in the hemisphere. In addition to its beauty, this piece, in the local chiquitano language, illustrates the musical miscegenation that took place in the Missions, which mixed European and local elements. 

The video continues with a track by the Spanish duo of soprano Rocío de Frutos and harpist Manuel Vilas, who performed a recital of Peruvian baroque music, some of in Quechua, that was composed as part of the Spanish push to evangelize the population around Cusco during colonial times. The final track is a short Portuguese piece that was part of Ars Longa de La Habana's debut concert a few years ago at Corpus Christi Church in Manhattan, which we presented in collaboration with Music Before 1800. 

April 10: J.P. Jofre

J.P. Jofre is a virtuoso bandoneonist and composer (and neighbor in Harlem) from San Juan, Argentina. His last appearance at Music of the Americas was in the concert we organized a year ago with the Gregorio Uribe Big Band during Carnegie Hall's Migrations festival. The piece he played for us, To Fred, is dedicated to the memory of his good friend, composer, and aurranger Fred Sturm.