Music of the Americas: Online and Live in Washington

Monday, September 19, 10 am

Afro-Andean Funk (Araceli Poma and Matt Geraghty) is a Latin Grammy-nominated band that fuses Afro-Peruvian musical traditions with R&B and a world of influences. Their self-titled album, sung in Spanish, Quechua, Haitian Creole, and English, was made with Argentine electronic artist Grod and Haitian Creole vocalist Manno Beats. 

From home in New York City, they sent us a version of their song "The Sacred Leaf."

Tuesday, September 20, 10 am

For the last two decades, Fernandito Ferrer has been a pioneer among the new generation of singer-songwriters from Puerto Rico. Continuing the Nueva Canción tradition, he performs classic repertoire but has developed his own language. Incorporating looping, he combines textures and sounds that serve as a platform to fuse rhythms and genres. Although undeniably Caribbean, his music extends beyond boundaries. His works has been featured in countless publications and he’s been a part of tours, festivals and events throughout the Caribbean, the United States, and Latin America, including Festival de la Canción Bolivariana, La Casita at Lincoln Center, Trovafest, and Summer Stage where he opened for Silvio Rodriguez.

From home in New York City's Long Beach, Ferrer sent us an intimate version of "Cuadriculado," a powerful and introspective account of the author's personal struggles and emotional wellbeing. The squared imagery of the inner city grid represents a lacerated view of day-to-day life and the overwhelming felling of its complexity.

Wednesday, September 21, 10 am

Cuban pianist Ana Gabriela Fernández is back with another contemporary Mexican piece, this time "Folklore con capricho," written by Juan Trigos in 2009, and part of his first cycle of piano pieces. 

Thursday, September 22, 1 pm

The JACK Quartet is one of the world's leading string quartets, with a strong focus on new music and living composers. They had their Music of the Americas debut back in 2010, when they were at the beginning of their outstanding career, in a program of music by Latin American composers. From that concert, we have already shared videos of pieces by Felipe Lara and Mauricio Pauly, and today we turn to Mexican composer and pianist José-Luis Hurtado, who is currently Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of New Mexico and who will be on our series in April with his remarkable Low Frequency Trio (we will announce our full spring season in December).

Hurtado wrote about this piece:

"L'ardito e quasi stridente gesto is formed by two main parts of distinctive musical character played continuously which represent two different visions of the same tense and impatient feeling. I have no words to thank Chris, Ari, John and Kevin whose enormous talent and dedication have brought my music to life."

Friday, September 23, 12 pm

Tardeagua (Melisa Budini and Sebastián Narváez) is a duo based in Paraná, in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos. They perform original compositions that draw from the various musical traditions from Argentina.  

They sent us their own "La casa soy."

Saturday, September 24, 2 pm

Music of the Americas, in collaboration with the Embassy of Paraguay, Opera Hispánica and the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., presents Diego Sánchez Haase’s Ñomongetá (Conversation), the first opera in Guaraní. Performed by José Mongelós and directed by Chía Patiño. 

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

The Spring 2022 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; by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and by the Howard Gilman Foundation. 

Additional support comes from the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, The Amphion Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, New Music USA’s Organizational Development Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, and from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals’ ArtsForward program, made possible through support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.