Last modified: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
IU Jacobs School of Music student ensemble performs in Colombia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 11, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music student ensemble the Glavan Quintet performed at the VII International Festival of Colombian Chamber Music, held in Medellín, Colombia, Nov. 5-6.
Through the help of Juan Carlos Arango, born in Colombia and now administrative assistant for the IU Latin American Music Center, the group was invited to interpret works written for wind quintet by Colombian composers Jorge Olaya Muñoz, Blas Emilio Atehortúa, Sergio Mesa and Antonio María Valencia.
Sasha Bachwhich, oboe; Mary Poole, clarinet; Zach Glavan, French horn; Banri Hoshi, bassoon; and Daniel Stein, flute; interpreted 10 works, including "Provincianita" and "Mujercita" by Muñoz and "Fantasy Rondo, Op. 6" and "Quintet in B-Flat Minor, Op. 4 No. 2" by Atehortúa.
"It was a great learning process since most of us have never played anything similar to Colombian music," said Glavan, the quintet's director. "It is very different to what we were used to. The rhythms are very different to the ones used in Western style classical music in composers like Samuel Barber and Paul Hindemith. A lot of the music was taken from Colombian popular music of the early 20th century, and it was important to feel or to think that we were playing something for people to dance to. It is really important to feel the music to interpret it."
The festival was organized by the research team Interdís of the National University in Medellín and was held in the Theater Lido, where several hundred people enjoyed the programs demonstrating why Colombian music should be valuable to the Colombian people as well as among common chamber music repertoire.
"We all had a chance to talk to several people before and after the concert," continued Glavan. "And the most prominent thing that I remember was pride for their culture. Everyone told us how proud they were that we were playing 'their' music -- written by some of their own."
For more information about the Jacobs School of Music and the Latin American Music Center, see https://www.music.indiana.edu.
