MORE ABOUT THE MUSIC

Letters from Argentina , composed by Lalo Schifrin , was premiered in 2005 at a performance of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The work was presented soon after by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the La Jolla SummerFest, and Chamber Music Northwest, which joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in commissioning the work. This commission gave birth to the program Viva Tango! , which pairs the work with music of Ástor Piazzolla .

Letters from Argentina

“Like the clear sky, like the rain, like the clouds, music has always been part of the Argentinean atmosphere, ever present in the literature, in the visual arts, and in the history of the country.” These words of composer Lalo Schifrin vividly describe the inspiration for his Letters from Argentina. In these eight vignettes, the composer weaves the nostalgic sounds of his childhood into a wistful musical impression. Schifrin describes recreating an “unreal past in which a memory persists and invites us to a journey full of promises and dreams.” He draws from the auditory imprints of having grown up in the vibrant sonic landscape of his homeland – his father’s violin playing, the drums of indigenous peoples, the impassioned strains of tango that emanate from forbidden cafés and radio speakers, the festive dance music that saturates the streets of entire villages and barrios, the faint strumming of the gauchos’ guitars on tranquil evenings in the pampas – and fashions an imagined reawakening of these experiences. (From the program note by Patrick Campbell Jankowski.)

Piazzolla Tangos

Including... Michaelangelo 70 ∙ Porteño ∙ Adiós Nonino ∙ La muerte del Angel ∙ Oblivion ∙ Libertango

Encore

The ensemble has been known to extend the performance with a delightful rendition of Schifrin’s Theme from Mission Impossible .

LISTEN & WATCH

Here is a link to a performance in January 2019 at the Beare ’ s Premiere Music Festival in Hong Kong. Please use the following to find each selection time. (This was a live stream, and includes 20 minutes of an empty stage before the beginning of the performance and similar during the intermission.)

Schifrin: Letters from Agentina

Piazzolla: Tangos

Schifrin: Theme from Mission Impossible - 2:11:10

MORE ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

Cho-Liang Lin, violin

Violinist Cho-Liang Lin, lauded the world over for his eloquent playing and superb musicianship. Mr. Lin has appeared as soloist with the orchestras of Detroit, Toronto, Dallas, Houston, Nashville, San Diego; the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; in Europe with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Bergen, Stockholm, and Munich Philharmonics; and in Asia with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, and Malaysia Philharmonic. In recent seasons, Mr. Lin has expanded his orchestral engagements to include performances as both soloist and conductor. He completed season-long residencies with the Shanghai Symphony and with the Singapore Symphony, which included engagements as soloist and conductor, participating in chamber music, and giving master classes. An advocate for music of our time, Mr. Lin has enjoyed collaborations and premieres with composers such as Tan Dun, Joel Hoffman, John Harbison, Christopher Rouse, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Lalo Schifrin, Paul Schoenfield, Bright Sheng, and Joan Tower. Also an avid chamber musician, Mr. Lin appears at the Beijing Music Festival, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Aspen Music Festival, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. As music director of La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Mr. Lin helped develop a festival that once focused primarily on chamber music into a multidisciplinary festival featuring dance, jazz and a burgeoning new music program. In Asia, Mr. Lin serves as Artistic Director of Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Music Summer Camp. Cho-Liang Lin’s extensive discography includes recordings for Sony Classical, Decca, Ondine, Naxos, and BIS. His albums have won such awards as Gramophone’s Record of the Year as well as two Grammy Award nominations.

David Shifrin, clarinet

One of only two wind players to have been awarded the Avery Fisher Prize since the award’s inception in 1974, clarinetist David Shifrin is in constant demand as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber music collaborator. He has performed with major orchestras including the Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Detroit, and Denver symphonies, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras, as well as with orchestras in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Taiwan. Shifrin has served as principal clarinetist with the American Symphony Orchestra (under Stokowski), Cleveland Orchestra, Honolulu and Dallas symphonies, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the New York Chamber Symphony. Mr. Shifrin has appeared in critically acclaimed recitals around the world. His recordings (on Delos, DGG, Angel/EMI, Arabesque, BMG, SONY, and CRI) garner praise as well as awards, and he has received three Grammy nominations. A sought-after chamber musician, he appears frequently with such artists as the Guarneri, Tokyo, and Emerson String Quartets and Wynton Marsalis. Mr. Shifrin champions the works of American composers including, among others, John Adams, Joan Tower, Bruce Adolphe, Ezra Laderman, Lalo Schifrin, David Schiff, John Corigliano, Bright Sheng, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. An artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1989, Mr. Shifrin served as its artistic director from 1992 to 2004. He is also the artistic director of Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. David Shifrin has been a professor at the Yale School of Music since 1987. He has also served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, University of Southern California, University of Michigan, Cleveland Institute of Music, and University of Hawaii. At Yale, Mr. Shifrin has been artistic director of the Oneppo Chamber Music Series and Yale in New York since 2008.

Héctor Del Curto, bandonéon

Winner of the title “Best Bandoneón Player Under 25” in his native Argentina by the age of 17, Héctor Del Curto was introduced to the world of tango by his grandfather, Héctor Cristobal, and joined the orchestra of Osvaldo Publiese. Del Curto is the founding artistic director of Stowe Tango Music Festival in Vermont, and has performed and recorded with artists including Shakira, Astor Piazzolla, Pablo Ziegler, Paquito D’Rivera, Joe Lovano, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Denyce Graves, Fernando Otero, Erwin Schrott, and Plácido Domingo. His first album, Eternal Tango, was featured on BBC News and Public Radio International’s “The World,” while Eternal Piazzolla accompanied a sold-out concert at New York City’s Le Poisson Rouge. Praised by The New York Times as a “splendid player,” Del Curto has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Buenos Aires Symphony Orchestra. He received the Golden Note Award from the Italian-American Network and conducted Forever Tango on Broadway, founding the ten-piece Eternal Tango Orchestra.

Alex Brown, piano

Yamaha Artist Alex Brown taught at the University of Panama and appeared at The Blue Note and Birdland in New York and Tokyo, the Heineken Jazz Festival, Blues Alley in Washington, D.C., Telluride Jazz Celebration, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater, Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, and Israel’s Red Sea Jazz Festival. Featured in the January 2010 issue of Keyboard Magazine, Brown has been a member of Paquito D’Rivera’s ensemble since 2007, performing on the Grammy-nominated album Jazz-Clazz. Brown earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory, studying with Danilo Perez and Charlie Banacos and winning student and young composer awards from ASCAP, DownBeat magazine, and BMI. Brown has performed with his own jazz ensemble, major orchestras, Imani Winds, and saxophonist Miguel Zenon as well as Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, winning acclaim for his debut CD Pianist and blending rhythm-and-blues, hip-hop, Afro-Caribbean, classical, and Brazilian influences.

Pablo Aslan, double bass

Pablo Aslan was born in Buenos Aires, mentored by Ástor Piazzolla, and educated at the University of California (Santa Cruz and Los Angeles) and California Institute of the Arts. He developed a unique flavor of jazz-infused tango in the clubs of New York, where he led New York Buenos Aires Connection, Avantango, and New York Tango Trio. Aslan’s recordings include Tango Grill, nominated for Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, and a collaboration with Paquito D’Rivera, with whom he toured Europe as music director of D’Rivera’s Tango Jazz Septet. Aslan also produced the 2007 Latin Grammy-winning recording Te Amo Tango by Uruguayan bandoneonist Raul Jaurena. Aslan has worked with Yo-Yo Ma, Lalo Schifrin, Osvaldo Golijov, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pablo Ziegler, Shakira, Denyce Graves, and the New World Symphony. He serves as artistic director of Portland’s Reed Tango Music Institute and has produced educational programs for Lincoln Center Institute, Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts, and Arts Connection in NYC, while both lecturing and teaching at Harvard, Yale, and UCLA.

Satoshi Takeishi, percussion

Studies at Boston’s Berklee College of Music led percussionist Satoshi Takeishi to spend four years in Colombia expanding his interest in the music of South America. While there Takeishi joined Macumbia led by the composer/arranger Francisco Zumaque, combining traditional, jazz and classical music and performing a series of concerts honoring composer Lucho Bermudes with the Botoga Symphony Orchestra. Takeishi began arranging in Miami. He produced Morning Ride for jazz flutist Néstor Torres, and studied and performed with oud master Joe Zeytoonian, learning the rhythms and melodies of the Middle East. Takeishi has worked with Ray Barretto, Carlos “Patato” Valdes, Elaine Elias, Marc Johnson, Eddie Gomez, Randy Brecker, the Paul Winters Consort, Rabih Abu Khalil, the Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, Herbie Mann, Erik Friedlander, Pablo Ziegler, Dave Liebman, Anthony Braxton, Mark Murphy, and others. He explores multi-cultural, electronic and improvisational music with local musicians and composers in New York.

More about Lalo Schifrin

More about Ástor Piazzolla

TECH

Viva Tango! is an accoustic performance; the tech is minimal. There is some percussion equipment, arrangements need to be made to rent or borrow a bass, there is a monitor set-up for the bass, a PA mic, and the piano. For more details, contact BesenArts .

7 Delaney Place

Tenafly, NJ 07670-1607

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STRING QUARTETS

Alexander String Quartet

Argus Quartet

Formosa Quartet

PIANO TRIO

Horszowski Trio

PIANO/CLARINET/CELLO

Polonsky-Shifrin-Wiley Trio

WIND/BRASS ENSEMBLES

Atlantic Brass Quintet

New Century Saxophone Quartet

GUITAR

William Kanengiser