Music of the Americas: Quinteto Latino, Recuerdos, and Tipa Tipo

Tuesday, June 15, 10 a.m.
and
Friday, June 18, 10 a.m.

Friends of Music of the Americas know Adele Fournet from her video work on the online premiere of Joaquín Orellana's Efluvios y puntos, which we launched in January.

But she is an artist of multiple talents, and today we share the first of a series of videos of her electropop duo Tipa Tipo, a project that mixes the spirit of 1970s soft rock with a modern analog production style. Fournet is in charge of vocals, keyboards, and production, while Peruvian musician Felipe Wurst, her husband and musical partner, shares on vocals and production and also plays guitars. The duo met in Lima and are currently based in Brooklyn. This week we share "No quiero más de ti" and "Llamada prohibida," recorded in their bedroom in Brooklyn. (Note Fournet's art on the wall behind Wurst.)

Wednesday, June 16, 10 a.m.

On May 31, 2011, Momenta gave a whole concert dedicated to the music of legendary Mexican microtonalist Julián Carrillo. It was the beginning of a long road for them, which included the recording of all of the composer's String Quartets and concerts across the United States and in Mexico. The program included two pieces for String Quartet (Bosquejos and the First Quartet) alongside solos for violin, viola, and cello, which were transcribed from the manuscripts for the occasion.

Born in 1875 in the small town of Ahualulco, in the state of San Luis Potosí in central Mexico, Carrillo grew from a promising classical violinist into a thoroughly individual composer and the creator of a self-sufficient musical system that he dubbed "Sonido 13." Studying in Mexico and Europe, he spent much of his life actively involved with the international musical community as an educator and conductor. Over time he developed his system, which drew on the subtleties of microtonalism to usher a new musical era. Carrillo’s music was frequently performed during his lifetime by artists including Leopold Stokowski and Nicolas Slonimsky, but quickly fell out of the regular concert repertoire upon the composer’s death.

Music Director Sebastian Zubieta wrote at the time:

"When I was a music student during the final, pre-internet decades of the twentieth century, the music of Julián Carrillo was something of a legend, mentioned only in a few histories of contemporary music. Hearing the music was all but impossible (there were only a few, hard-to-find LP releases), a situation that has improved only marginally since. I am extremely happy to be able to bring this music to life and collaborate again with the intrepid Momenta Quartet in a program that explores Carrillo’s string music spanning almost 40 years. I also want to thank Ángel Carrillo Soberón, grandson of the composer and the keeper of his archives, and Gabriela Barrón, who is in charge of the materials, for making the music accessible for tonight’s performance."

Today we share Stephanie Griffin's solo from that concert, the "Capricho para viola en 4os., 8os. y 16vos. de tono," composed in 1928.

Thursday, June 17, 7 p.m.

Watch here.

Quinteto Latino is a San Francisco Bay Area wind quintet with a mission to build community through Latino classical music. Founded in 2004 by French horn player Armando Castellano, this ensemble aims to expand the boundaries of a classical music tradition by performing works exclusively by Latino/a composers. In addition, the quintet advocates on behalf of Latino/a composers and classical musicians through mentoring, commissioning, and being a voice regionally and nationally for issues around diversity and classical music.

In their Music of the Americas debut, the quintet will present a program featuring a premiere by Colombian composer Felipe Nieto, alongside works by Gabriela Lena Frank and Gabriela Ortiz.

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

The Spring 2021 Music program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Additional support for the Quinteto Latino concert comes from The Amphion Foundation, Inc., The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund.