Music of the Americas: New Year

Wednesday, January 22, 10 am

Carolina Barenbaum is an Argentine charango player, guitarist, and composer who has released four albums, both as a soloist and with her bands. Her album Inimaginario (2020) is dedicated to solo guitar and features her own arrangements and compositions based on traditional music. Her second solo album, Simisonte (2021), focuses on the sounds of the charango family. She is currently recording her third solo album.

Barenbaum has appeared at festivals in Argentina and abroad, including Charangos del mundo (Rosario, Argentina), rEstate in Ascolto (Rome, Italy), and Guitarras del mundo (Misiones, Formosa, and Buenos Aires, Argentina). She is also one of the winners of Americas Society's 2024 Composition Competition, which was dedicated to guitar music. 

She sent us "Simisontes," an original work for maulincho, one of the smallest instruments in the charango family. The piece is based on rapid melodic motifs and uses resources typical of the charango technique. The piece is included in the album of the same name.

Thursday, January 23, 10 am 

Bolivian wind instrument player Carla Derpic began studying the quena, the traditional flute of the Andes, in 2006. She has been part of different musical projects, including the Orquesta Criolla Música de Maestros, the contemporary music ensemble Maleza, and Muruqu, a group dedicated to the study and performance of traditional music from the Bolivian Andes. She has also been invited to accompany the “Unidos por Bolivia” Trio with Ernesto Cavour. 

Her artistic motivation is linked to the study and experimentation of the resources offered by the quena, as well as to the dissemination of the sound and versatility of this musical instrument. 

From La Paz, and with guitarist Mauricio Copa, she sent us two pieces. Today we share "Carretón enamorado," a carnaval by the great Bolivian composer Ernesto Cavour that was first recorded in 1992. In the last years of his life, Cavour, with characteristic mischief, introduced this song under the name "Carreton, enamorado de su rueda izquierda." 

Friday, January 24, 10 am 

Daniel Ganc is a composer and guitarist from Rio de Janeiro dedicated to Brazilian instrumental music. He is the founder of the group Quarteto Geral in which he plays the caipira guitar. He also works in the field of concert music through compositions that range from string pieces to solo guitar studies.

From the Cidade Maravilhosa, he sent us this version of his "Inadimplente," with percussionist Lucas Videla and accordionist Nandinho Barros. 

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

The 2024-2025 series is also supported, in part, by the Howard Gilman Foundation, Augustine Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Mex-Am Cultural Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and Mid Atlantic Arts.