Music of the Americas: Start of 2023 Online

Monday, January 30, 10 am

Katty Mayorga is a New York-based Nicaraguan guitarist, composer, songwriter, and educator. Her performances encompass various styles, from classical to folkloric music, from Latin American to neoclassical. She performs as a soloist and as part of Artemis Guitar Duo with Isabella Abbonizio and flute and guitar group JKLM duo with Jamie Lee. She has premiered musicals showcasing minorities and worked with award-winning Latin American choreographers. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in classical guitar performance under the tutelage of Frederic Hand. 

Mayorga sent us two videos, recorded in New York. This week, we share "Mar," by Argentine composer and guitarist María Luisa Anido (1907–1996). Anido was one of the leading guitarists of the past century, with a performing career that took her around Europe and the Americas. "Mar" is one of her Preludios nostálgicos, which she composed while living outside of her country and published in Spain in 1977. 

Tuesday, January 31, 10 am

Venezuelan singer-songwriter Gera (Geraldyn García) currently lives in Colombia. She has been singing as long as she has been able to speak, and she is working on her debut album of original compositions, produced by fellow Venezuelan musician (and Music of the Americas alum) Rafa Pino.

From her home in Bogotá, Gera, with Daniel Molina on cuatro, sent us her song "Nos volveremos a encontrar," a nostalgic song she wrote in 2021 and invites us to remember with fondness and at the same time to use those memories as a springboard for the future.

Wednesday, February 1, 10 am

Toninho Ferragutti is an accordionist, composer, and musical arranger. He has participated in hundreds of albums and concerts by renowned artists, such as Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethânia, Maria Schneider, Lenine, Spok Frevo, Orquestra Jazz Sinfônica, OSESP (São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra), Tom Jobim Youth Orchestra, Versátilis Orchestra, among many others. He has recorded 15 solo and collaborative albums and has been nominated three times for Latin Grammy Awards. He received the Azorean Music Trophy in 2014, and he won the Cata Vento Trophy in 2015 and the trophy of Best Instrumental Soloist in the 28th Brazilian Music Award. His most recent albums are “De Sol a Sol” and “Espelho do Som,” both released in 2021.

From his home in São Paulo, he sent us this version of his "Bagualina."

Thursday, February 2, 10 am

Born in the Argentine province of La Pampa, singer/composer Eli Fernández's debut album, Canto soy, was nominated to the Premios Gardel in 2019. From her home in Córdoba, where she lives, she sent us two videos. This week, we share "Yuyo verde," a tango written in 1944 by Homero Expósito and Domingo Federico, recorded with pianist Jorge Martínez. 

Friday, February 3, 7 pm

In November 2022, baritone Jean Bernard Cerin and soprano Melissa Joseph, joined by Stephen Gamboa-Diaz on harpsichord and piano, presented a program based on Cerin's research, which explores the tale—across centuries and continents—of “Lisette quitté la plaine,” an enduringly popular song from Haiti that provides an uncanny pathway to highlight classical music by and about people of African descent.

Watch here

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

The Spring 2023 Music program is also supported, in part, by by the Howard Gilman Foundation, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

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, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals’ ArtsForward program, made possible through support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and The Augustine Foundation.    

Jean Bernard Cerin's concert was also supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.