2021 Online Festival
October 20 - 24, 2021
All programs broadcast on our YouTube channel and on our Facebook Page
The Lure of Folklore
October 20, 8PM EDT (New York)
Our opening program for 2021 will feature songs by Carlos Guastavino, many of them inspired by Argentine folklore, and works by two of the finalists of the Carlos Guastavino International Competition.
Guastavino imbued his Cuatro Canciones Argentinas with the moving simplicity and directness found in the music of northwestern Argentina. The program also includes three loving homages to ordinary hand tools --a flatiron, a carpenter’s square and a thimble – and the people who use them.
Las Presencias
October 21, 8PM EDT (New York)
Guastavino often found inspiration in people – their stories, their character, their secrets, and the hidden meanings within their names. Today’s compositions show his uncanny ability to capture the essence of people in his cycle “Las Presencias” (The Presences), homages to real and imaginary people.
The concert closes with an arrangement of the song Pueblito, mi Pueblo, Guastavino’s heartfelt homage to the town of San José del Rincón, in Santa Fe province.
Tango, Vessel of Memories: The Music of Astor Piazzolla
October 22, 8PM EDT (New York)
Piazzolla’s music has been acclaimed world-wide, but its essence remains unmistakably enmeshed with the city of Buenos Aires. Today’s program includes three Estaciones Porteñas (Seasons of Buenos Aires) in arrangements by Nancy Roldán, the song Milonga sin palabras, a virtuosic piano rhapsody on his famous tango Adiós Nonino, dedicated to his late father, the tango Kicho for double bass and piano, and a song from his “operita” María de Buenos Aires.
Romances and Remembrances
October 23, 8PM EDT (New York)
Guastavino wrote several Romances, compositions that parallel the traditional Spanish poetic form of the same name. While traditional Spanish Romances often drew from historical narratives, Guastavino’s Romances tell the stories of imaginary characters, often imbued with nostalgia and sadness.
Today’s concert includes his two Romances Nuevos for piano, as well as the third movement of his Tres Romances for two pianos. The program also features his Guitar Sonata No. 1, written in memory of his deceased brother, as well as two of his lesser known songs.
At the Concert Hall
October 24, 8PM EDT (New York)
The last program of the Festival will feature Guastavino’s recently discovered Preludio/Canción for piano, recorded in a historic concert hall in Guastavino’s native town of Santa Fe, as well as his best known song, Se Equivocó la Paloma, the Sonatina in G, premiered at the famed Colon theater in Buenos Aires.
Additionally, acoustician Carl Giegold and Architect Alberto Cavallero will present “Architecture and Music in Symbiosis”, a reflection on ways that performance venues and music have evolved together, with a particular focus on the evolution of the contemporary concert hall.
The concert will include the announcement of the winners of the Carlos Guastavino Composition Competition, and a performance of the first prize winner’s work.