Contemporary Classics July 27, 2021 Contemporary Composers of Mexico

Tonight on Contemporary Classics, we explore some 21st century composers of Mexico.

We are going to start with composer Maria Granillo.   She was born in Torreón Coahuila, Mexico in 1962. She completed a Bachelor's Degree in Composition at the National School of Music of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), as a fellow of the Composition Workshop of Dr. Federico Ibarra. Later she obtained a Master's Degree in Composition at the University of York, England, with a specialty in Electroacoustic Music. In 2006 She obtained a Doctorate in Composition at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver Canada.

Maria Granillo’s Concierto para Piano received it’s premiere on September 28, 2014 with Ana Lara at the piano.

This evening we will be listening to a performance by Mauricio Náder, piano with the Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México conducted by José Areán.

You have been listening to a performance of Maria Granillo’s Concierto para Piano by Mauricio Náder, piano with the Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México conducted by José Areán.

Alejandro Vera was born in Torreón, Coahuila México, in 1990. When he finished his studies as a violin and guitar music technician, he studied the Bachelor in Music Composition degree under the tutelage of Roberto Carlos Flores by the University of Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico and Master's degree under the tutelage of Berislav Šipuš at the University of Zagreb, Academy of Music in Zagreb, Croatia.

In 2013 he was selected for the composition course with Salvatore Sciarrino and Luis Bacalov in the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy.

At the same time, Alejandro has developed a career as composer, vocalist, guitarist and producer of his solo rock project Robin Flynn. In which he explores various genres, from math rock to dream pop, using complex harmonic sequences based on contrasts and less common rhythmic modes and song structures.

Alejandro Vera    Lagrimas.   2019    Siqueiros Trio.   Juanmanuel Flores. Violin; Ana Karen Rodriguez. Violoncello; Noe Macias. Piano

Eduardo Caballero  is a composer and conductor originally from Monterrey NL Mexico. His studies began with a degree in Guitar and composition at the Superior School of Music and Dance of Monterrey, He completed a MFA in composition at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.   His artistic development is divided between composer of both acoustic and electroacoustic music and director of ensembles and orchestras. He is principal conductor of the Ensemble Noodus, a group dedicated to promoting and disseminating the music of the XX and XXI centuries. Professor of Composition, Orchestration and Initiation to the Orchestral Conducting at the Escuela Superior de Música y Danza de Monterrey. Professor of Orchestration at the Facultad de Música Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León.

Lets listen to Eduardo Caballero’s entre el eco sordo del agua.  This work was commissioned in 2019 by the Siqueiros Trio and deals with sound impressions on the title between the deaf echo of water.

Here is a performance of Eduardo Caballero’s "entre el eco sordo del agua" by the Trio Siqueiros  from the premiere performance on October 7, 2019 at the Theater of the Arts Center of the Council for Culture and the Arts of Nuevo León.

You have been listening to a performance of Eduardo Caballero’s "entre el eco sordo del agua" by the Trio Siqueiros  from the premiere performance on October 7, 2019 at the Theater of the Arts Center of the Council for Culture and the Arts of Nuevo León.

Georgina Derbéz was born in México City in 1968 where she studied piano with Lea Levine and Marta García Renart. She later entered the Escuela Superior de Música where she studied piano with Ana María Tradatti and composition with Arturo Márquez.   Her later work in composition was with Ana Lara and in a large number of composition workshops with various composers including  Franco Donatoni and Mario Lavista.

She currently serves on Composition Faculty of the Superior School of Music of the National Center for the Arts in México City, and has lectured at many schools throughout North America.  She is also the Artistic Director of PUENTES a Spanish-Mexican Festival of Contemporary Music.

Tonight we will be listening to Georgina Derbéz’s Ascenso Al Celeste: concierto para clarinete y orquesta here in a performance from November 2018 by Richie Hawley Clarinet,  with Yehuda Gilad conducting the Orquesta Filarmónica de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (OFUNAM)

You have been listening to Georgina Derbéz’s Ascenso Al Celeste: concierto para clarinete y orquesta here in a performance from November 2018 by Richie Hawley Clarinet,  with Yehuda Gilad conducting the Orquesta Filarmónica de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Charles Daniels was born in Mexico City in 1985, he studied musical composition at the CIEM (Centre for Musical Studies and Research) from 2003 to 2008.   Next week we will be talking with him so we will learn more about his training and development as a composer then.  Tonight we will be listening to his The Myth of Déremot-Bélel. 

About this work Charles Daniels writes: This piece was written during the COVID-19 lockdown. As I had some extra time on my hands, I started to imagine a world, a people and a mythology. In this world, where deities are considered to be factual historical figures, people would use magic as a tool and as a weapon, but also an art form.

With this as a backdrop in my mind, I wrote this piece of music which is, in a much more general way, simply intended to evoke feelings of wonder at the mystical and the magical, as well as the awe inspired by ancient and unknown gods.

This work received the First prize at the Future Symphony Competition 2020 in Lithuania.

Our last composer of this evenings exploration of the contemporary music of Mexico is Charles M. Champi

Charles M. Champi  was born in 1988 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. Starting his music education as a guitar player in local rock bands in Monterrey, he moved into “academic” music through piano and violin lessons, getting involved with local orchestras and musicians, and attending composition courses and seminars. He studied violin with Lilia Naydenova and composition with Miguel Almaguer and Eduardo Caballero. He received the B.Mus in Violin Performance with Lilia Naydenova at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León   Monterrey in 2013 and attended composition workshops C.M.M.A.S, 2014 and 2017 and IRCAM, 2021.  He is presently completing his Master in Music Composition, Music Faculty, UNAM and is living in Mexico City.

We are going to listen to his work Urbanotonies   which is a collaborative music/art installation which was premiered and recorded at the Ex-Teresa Arte Actual Museum of the Federal District (Mexico), in 2012.

Urbanotonies is a reflection on "the urban environment, sounds and language" that combines musical presentation and installation as a synthesis that approaches live art as a strategy, to propose a simile of chaotic urban everyday life in the use of museum space. Music takes sounds from everyday life (coffee machines, alarm clocks, cars, birds, etc.) to create a discourse where the sound itself (each sound) can be perceived as an aesthetic experience.  The work is in 5 movements

I. Despertar Des’-per-tah’  Awakening

II. Ocuparse   Oh-co-pahr’say   Take care

III Relajarse    Raylah har’-say Relax

IV. Socializar   Soth-ah lee tar Socialize

V. Soñar   sone-yar      Dream

Charles M. Champi Ruinas Circulares (2017), for baritone saxophone and tape.   Commissioned and performed by Sabo Romero.   Performed on September, 2017 @ Teatro del Centro de las Artes, Fundidora; Monterrey, N.L., México