Baroque Meets Brazil February 21, 2010

Santa Cecilia Orchestra
Presents
“Baroque Meets Brazil”

Sunday February 21, 2010, 4 PM, Thorne Hall, Occidental College

Santa Cecilia Orchestra, an orchestra with a special mission to serve the Latino community, will perform under the baton of the orchestra’s music director and conductor, Sonia Marie De Léon de Vega, on February 21, 2010. Music of Vivaldi, Bach and Villa-Lobos will be performed in the acoustically superb Thorne Hall, on the campus of Occidental College in Eagle Rock.

The three composers represented on this concert might seem, on first consideration, a diverse and unrelated group. After all, they hail from three very different countries, and their lives span most of three centuries. Yet Antonio Vivaldi, J. S. Bach, and Heitor Villa-Lobos have much in common and are linked by strong lines of influence. Vivaldi’s music made a great impression on Bach and greatly affected his compositing during the early eighteenth century. Over two hundred years later, Bach’s music exerted a similar influence on Villa-Lobos.

The Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi was astonishingly prolific, producing nearly 500 concertos featuring practically every instrument in use during his lifetime. Concerti performed on this program will include the Lute Concerto in D major, Michel Kudirka, soloist, Flute Concerto Op. 10 No. 3 in D major “Il Cardellino”, soloist Salpy Kerkonian and Concerto for 4 violins Op 3. No. 10 in b minor, soloists: Melissa Phelps, Yi-Huan Zhao, Andrew McIntosh, and Andrew Tholl.

Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos is one of the most original and celebrated South American composers of all time. He helped Brazilian music to become loved throughout the world, and is best known for absorbing the uniquely colorful sounds of his country into his great work. He was born on March 5, 1887 in Rio de Janeiro, where he grew up listening to the unique music of Brazil. In his town, he was accustomed to hearing country folk guitarists, and became captivated by the dance music played in the streets for parties and festivals. He composed his Bachianas Brasileiras, a cycle of nine pieces in total, from 1930-1945. They display a new aesthetic for the composer, more nationalistic and less revolutionary. Each has a Romantic spirit, mixing Brazilian folk music and Bach’s composition techniques of counterpoint.

Santa Cecilia Orchestra will perform Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5 and no. 9, scored for string orchestra. These pieces combine a distinctly Brazilian flavor with contrapuntal textures and harmonic patterns inspired by the works of Bach. The result is a remarkable fusion of the musical spirits of the Old and New Worlds, of European composition at its most highly developed and Latin lyricism at its most directly appealing.

Sonia Marie De Léon de Vega, noted symphony and opera conductor has achieved distinction as a creative and consummate musician, as a woman in a groundbreaking career role, and as a leading influence in the growing Latino culture in the United States. Her musical talents have inspired a large following in Southern California through live orchestral presentations, as well as an international audience through televised performances in the United States, Latin America and Europe. She was the first woman in history to receive a Vatican invitation to conduct a symphony orchestra at a Papal Mass.

De Leon de Vega is most closely associated with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra. She is celebrated in educational circles for creating the dynamic Discovering Music program that takes orchestra members into elementary schools in underserved Latino neighborhoods to introduce over 16,000 children a year to classical music and the instruments of the orchestra. The program also provides free violin lessons to over 150 children in these communities.

The concert will take place at Occidental College’s Thorne Hall, 1600 Campus Rd., Los Angeles on February 21, 2010 at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. There will be one performance only of this program. Tickets priced at $26, $20 and $7 (youth 17 and under) are available by calling the Santa Cecilia Orchestra office at (323) 259-3011 or logging on to scorchestra.org.

CALENDAR LISTING

For Immediate Release

Santa Cecilia Orchestra

Sonia Marie De Léon de Vega, Conductor

Presents:

“Baroque Meets Brazil”

Program:
Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 violins & violoncello Op. 3 No. 10 in b minor (Melissa Phelps. Yi-Huan Zhao, Andrew Tholl and Andrew McIntosh, soloists)

Vivaldi: Lute Concerto in D major (Michael Kudirka, soloist)
Vivaldi: Flute concerto Op. 10 No. 3 in D Major “Il Cardellino” (Salpy Kerkonian, soloist)
Prelude in b minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier (Arranged by Stokowski)
J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
H. Villa – Lobos: Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 (arranged for string orchestra by J. Krance)
H. Villa – Lobos: Bachianas Brasilieras No. 9

Date/Time: Sunday, February 21, 2010, 4:00pm

Location: Occidental College, Thorne Hall, 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA 90041

Ticket Pricing: $26, $20, $7 (youth 17 and under)

Ticket Information: Call (323) 259-3011 or log on to www.scorchestra.org