by Max Newman
Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla may have passed away over thirty years ago, but his contributions to the tango music genre are truly eternal.
“Even in his sweetest melodies, there are things that are powerful,” said Derek Snyder, the self-described “de-facto leader” of the Oblivion Project, a musical group that has been performing and exploring the works of Piazzolla for over twenty years.
The project will take the stage at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium on Friday, March 28 at 7:30 pm. Tickets available online. I was lucky to get to speak to both Snyder and Malena Dayen, the project’s vocalist, over the phone prior to the performance.
Snyder has been drawn to Piazzolla’s music for several decades. “I discovered Piazzolla as a composer around 1990. I was an undergrad in Illinois and I went to hear the Russian cellist Rostropovich. He played a piece called The Grand Tango by this composer I had never heard of, and it turned out to be Astor Piazzolla. It was just a super engaging, powerful piece, and ever since then I’ve been interested in finding out more about him.”
The group, taking its name from one of Piazzolla’s best-known compositions, began to get going in earnest in 2003. “We started a series of concerts in March to celebrate his birthday and his music. We did two nights of programming in Ann Arbor, and that’s kind of where things started.”
Despite the Oblivion Project’s commitment to playing Piazzolla’s work, Snyder has never felt boxed in. During his career, Piazzolla composed over 3,000 pieces of music, in a large variety of genres and styles. “There’s just so much to explore, including a lot of his vocal work, which we have started to do more recently. We’re working with Argentine vocalist Malena Dayen, and half of our program will feature a vocal accompaniment.”
Snyder believes that the Oblivion Project’s playing style strongly mirrors that of Piazzolla’s group itself. “If you look at Piazzolla’s published music versus what you hear him playing, it’s way different Our music is based on the structure of chords, and is within the character and voice of Piazzolla, but other than that it’s pretty open, pretty different from show to show.”
The constitution of the Oblivion Project is also Piazzolla-esque. “The group has always been kind of a mix of musicians from different backgrounds, which was how Piazzolla worked,” Snyder said. “We have musicians who’ve had more classical training, and a bunch of people with jazz backgrounds as well. I think that diversity gives everybody their own voice, and it gives the group so much more depth.”
The set list for the Gartner Auditorium performance will feature a wide range of the composer’s music. “We’ll do some early 1950s pieces that Piazzolla wrote when he was in Paris, as well as some works from his middle and late career. His early music is really fun to play because it has a lighter feel to it, closer to traditional tango. But his late career music is fun to play as well. We usually open up shows with a piece called Tango Apasionado, which starts with this dark, beautiful melody, and then changes to a driving march. It’s great to hear pieces like that with solos that change every night.”
The concert will also feature Argentine vocalist Malena Dayen, described as a “Spanish music and tango specialist.” Snyder and Dayen met in 2019. “Right before the pandemic started, we had a series of concerts planned, and our vocalist got sick at the last minute and couldn’t perform. We connected with Malena through various people, and she joined us on a day’s notice. We just had so much fun on that tour, and this has been our first chance to do something with her again.”
Dayen herself has spent her whole life surrounded by the music of Astor Piazzolla. Her family lived in the same neighborhood as the legendary composer, and her parents were passionate about his work. “He’s a composer who’s very much a part of my upbringing, and my mom is a singer herself, so I always sang his music.”
Dayen studied opera performance in New York City, but continued singing tango. “I love it and it’s very much part of who I am. When I got the invitation to play with the Oblivion Project in 2020, it was just amazing to find a band so committed to and knowledgeable about Piazzolla’s music. I’m so happy to be back.”
Dayen, Snyder, and the members of the Oblivion Project all feel strongly that it is important for them to continue Piazzolla’s legacy. “This is the most well received program that we’ve been part of,” Snyder said. “Several of us play in different orchestras or jazz ensembles, and the reaction of audiences to this music is always instantaneous. It hits people deeply. Only Dayen is actually from Argentina, but we’ve had several Argentines come up to us after concerts and express how meaningful it was to hear the music — and that’s pretty powerful for us.”
The CMA concert will be part of the Oblivion Project’s eighth tour of the Midwest. The Project is based in Cleveland, and many of the group’s members have strong ties to the region. However this will be the group’s first time performing in Gartner Auditorium, and Snyder is excited for the occasion. “I’ve been to many shows there, it’s such a great space and it’s going to be a really lovely place to play.”
Published on ClevelandClassical.com March 24, 2025.
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