In this episode 3 of season 7 of the comusik Podcast, we present two composers from Argentina, Cecilia Castro and Eva García Fernández. In the second part, we present two composers from Venezuela Diana Arismendi and Marianela Arocha.

This is the third of three programs presenting the work of colleagues from Latin America (Argentina-Venezuela).

About the Argentinean composers:

Cecilia Castro – Bachelor in Composition with Electroacoustic Media (UNQ), and currently pursuing graduate studies in Social and Political Anthropology (FLACSO).

She has presented electronic and mixed media pieces and sound installations in national and international venues and has made sound designs for important film and audiovisual productions. She is a JTP teacher at the Universidad del Cine (FUC), 1st Assistant at the Universidad de la Artes (UNA) and at the Postgraduate in Sound Art at the UNTREF. His aesthetic interests focus on the crossovers between academic acoustic and experimental electronic genres. Some of her latest works explore the crossover between disciplines creating pieces that combine documentary video, musical concert and fiction story, building a unique exploration of the social, political and cultural aspects of sound and listening.

www.ceciliacastro.net

Eva García Fernández – Composer, researcher, saxophonist and teacher from the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Bachelor in Music (UNTREF) and studies in Musical Composition (CEAMC), she teaches at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF) and at the Universidad de Palermo (U.P.) in the Area of Artistic and Musical Creation.

Her production as a composer includes chamber music, mixed media, works for solo instruments, instrumental theater, incidental music, sound art, instrumental post-rock and arrangements of popular music. She has received commissions from different instrumentalists, ensembles and institutions. Her works have received several awards and mentions and have been performed by renowned musicians; presented in various festivals, cycles and concerts in widely recognized halls in Argentina, Uruguay, Germany and the United States.

About the Venezuelan composers:

Diana Arismendi – Composer, teacher, cultural manager.

She has developed for more than thirty years, an intense career dedicated to creation, teaching and cultural management focused mainly on contemporary and Latin American music. She is a Professor of Composition and Director of Culture at the Universidad Simón Bolívar where she has held different academic responsibilities for 25 years.

Since 1996 she has been Executive Director of the Latin American Music Festival of Caracas, having organized twelve festivals considered first class in the music world. Her extensive musical production, which exceeds sixty works, includes orchestral music, solo concertos, opera, abundant vocal music, electronic music, as well as works for solo instruments, string quartets, and a great deal of chamber music.

Since September 2019, she has been producing and conducting the series of “Encounters with Masters of Music”, which she has presented both in person and digitally, in parallel to the series of “Let’s talk about the music of our days”, featuring Venezuelan and Latin American composers of trajectory and with the aim of contributing to the musical education of young creators in the region. As a member of the School of Composition of El Sistema, she has recently begun to conduct the “COMPONIENDO” encounters.

Three compact discs have been dedicated exclusively to her works “Ficciones” from 1996, “Fiestas Solemnes” from 1998 and “Señales en el cielo” from 2007, many of her works have been published in different anthologies in Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, USA and England.

Her works are published by LaFi Publishers in the USA and Babel Scores in France.

Marianela Arocha – Venezuelan pianist, composer and teacher of outstanding career.

She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Piano Performance and Piano Teacher from the Russian Musical Academy Gniesinj and a Master of Music degree in Composition from the Universidad Simón Bolívar in Venezuela. She is currently a PhD candidate in Music with mention in composition at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Argentina.

She has been laureate in the Composition Contest “El Sistema/Radio France” when her work “Retablos” was selected to be recorded by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France in Paris. She received Honorable Mention in the III Composition Contest of the Simón Bolívar University and Honorable Mention in the Municipal Prize of Music in Venezuela.

In 2010 she recorded her solo CD Figuraciones del Presente. She has participated in various cultural, recording and research projects. She has been an active member of the Venezuelan Society of Contemporary Music, participating in the organization of artistic events.

She has published several publications in books and academic journals related to her compositional work and to the research projects of the Musical Arts career of the National University of Loja: “Collection of Academic Musical Literature of the mid-nineteenth and twentieth century in the city of Loja” and “Ecuadorian Piano Repertoire, Loja chapter”.

She has worked as a professor at the Universidad Nacional Experimental de las Artes in Venezuela, at the Universidad Simón Bolívar, at the Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar belonging to the Sistema de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela. She is currently a professor of Musical Arts at the National University of Loja, Ecuador.

Content of the radio program and podcast:

I. Presentation of Cecilia Castro

II. Explanation and audition of the work WORM (worm).

III. Presentation by Eva García Fernández

IV. Explanation and audition of the work Espejos (Mirrors)

V. Presentation by Diana Arismendi

VI. Explanation and audition of the work Élegos.

VII. Presentation by Marianela Arocha

VIII. Explanation and audition of the piece “Los caminos de la tierra”.

CONTENTS EXTENDED VERSION ARGENTINA:

I. Presentation by Cecilia Castro

II. Explanation and audition of the work WORM (worm)

III. About their activities and activism

IV. Presentation by Eva García Fernández

V. Explanation and audition of the work Espejos (Mirrors)

VI. About their activities and activism

CONTENT EXTENDED VERSION VENEZUELA:

I. Presentation of Diana Arismendi

II. About her activities and activism

III. Explanation of her works and the current situation of Venezuela from her perspective in music.

IV. Explanation and audition of the work Élegos

V. Explanation and audition of the work Stella caellis.

VI. Presentation of Marianela Arocha

VII. About her activities and activism

VI. Explanation and audition of the play Los caminos de la tierra (The paths of the earth)

VII. Explanation and audition of the work Retablos

REFERENCES

WORM

Performer: Ensamble Vocal _ Nonsense

Recorded and mixed at Estudio Libres

Produced with the support of the Fondo Nacional de las Artes

Espejos

Tropi Ensemble

Flute: Sebastián Tellado
Bass Clarinet: Constancia Moroni
Piano: Malena Levin
Electric Guitar: Manuel Moreno
Violin: Florencia Ciaffone
Cello: Alejandro Becerra
Vibraphone and drums: Juan Denari

Conductor: Haydée Schvartz

Élegos (2019)
for cello and piano, commissioned by pianist Clara Rodríguez

Nina Rivas, cello

Clara Rodriguez, piano

Dedicated to the Venezuelan migrants scattered all over the world.

Stella cælis (2022)

Cello solo: Adalus Low Mancicni

Los caminos de la tierra

Felipe Rubio – flute; Álvaro Toledo – double bass and José Ávila on percussion.

“Retablos”

Composition Competition “El Sistema/Radio France” recorded by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France in Paris.

Conductor: Máxime Pascal