by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: Apollo’s Fire closes out “Fiddlers of Dublin”
•Announcements: Cleveland Opera auditions, Opus 216 summer events, composition professor Michael Frazier promoted at Oberlin, and revisiting Western Reserve Chorale’s season finale
•Almanac: composer Carlos Chávez (pictured) and his interest in Indigenous Mexican folk music
HAPPENING TODAY:
At 7:30 pm at Mapleside Farms in Brunswick, Apollo’s Fire will close out its run of “The Fiddlers of Dublin.” Tickets are already sold out, but you can join the waiting list here.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
After its season-ending concerts this weekend, The Cleveland Opera will hold auditions for voices of all types and levels on Monday, June 19 at the Polish-American Cultural Center. Email auditions@theclevelandopera.org to get your time slot.
Opus 216 has released its summer schedule of events, spanning from June to mid-September. Check it out here.
Michael Frazier has been promoted to Assistant Professor of Composition at Oberlin Conservatory. Read the Oberlin News story by Joshua Reinier here.
And Western Reserve Chorale’s season-ending concert earlier this month is now available as a concert video. Watch “One If By Land – Two If By Sea: The British Are Coming!” here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Mexican conductor and composer Carlos Chávez was born on this date in 1899 in Mexico City. Chávez is known for being an early exponent of Mexican nationalist music, bringing together influences of both Indigenous Mexican folk music — something he studied extensively as an ethnomusicologist — and modern compositional techniques.
Looking back on folk music was also a way to pave a new path forward. “The most important result was that it gave the young composers of Mexico a living comprehension of the musical tradition of their own country,” Chávez said. “It will never be necessary for them now, from a lack of background of their own, to imitate European musical forms and formulae. The elements of this music, which finds response in their own feelings, will assist them in creating their own idiom, giving it color and vitality, rhythmic vigor, and harmonic variety.”
Adding to his cultural influence, Chávez founded the Orquesta Sinfónica de México, serving as principal conductor for over 20 years, during which time he frequently commissioned works by fellow Mexican composers such as Silvestre Revueltas. He also directed the Conservatorio Nacional de Música and served as general director of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes.
Chávez’s most famous work is his second symphony, Sinfonía india, which borrows melodies from the Huichol, the Yaqui, and the Seri people. Click here to follow along with the score while listening to a recording by the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Enrique Bátiz.