Keene State Guitar Orchestra and Latin American Ensemble showcased repertoire from various countries across the world during a combined concert.
The performance took place on Wednesday, Nov. 29 in the Redfern Arts Center Alumni Recital Hall.
The Latin American Ensemble opened the performance with three pieces arranged by Professor Emeritus José Lezcano, director of both ensembles.
The pieces were titled “Sanjuanito of Ecuador’s Yarina Community,” “Longuita (Sanjuanito)” and “Estudio (Huayno) for Harp and Charango.”
Additionally, the first half of the night featured guest artist Rachel Clemente on the harp, who performed an arrangement of “Bothan: (Easan Traditional Scottish Air).”
Clemente was a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, where she studied traditional Scottish music. The program notes stated that Clemente “has had a passion for music from the early age of five … Since moving to Vermont in 2019, Rachel has focused on establishing herself in the New England folk scene as a soloist.”
Regarding her solo piece, Clemente said to the audience, “[This piece] has a slower melody [and] is a slow tune. This tune was published in a collection … and it’s a very old melody that I’ve set to the harp.”
Lezcano said the Latin American Ensemble was “the only world music ensemble in the curriculum … This continues to be an important thing because students get to play music without any prior experience and I combine it with students and community members who do play traditional Western music, so it’s what we call a mestizo ensemble.”
Following a brief intermission, the six members of Guitar Orchestra took the stage alongside Lezcano who was playing with them. Guitar Orchestra opened their portion of the performance with “Bai Mudan,” a Chinese folk song arranged by composer Jim Forrest. “‘Bai Mudan’ is very beautiful,” Lezcano said. “It’s in a pentatonic mode and it’s just a very lyrical, comforting, beautiful song.”
Other pieces performed by the ensemble included “Dances from Terpsichore,” “Three South American Folk Songs,” “Rondo Allegretto in C major, op. 22,” “Valsando” and “Prelude from Carmen.”
“‘Carmen’ of course is a very famous opera inspired by Spanish folklore by French composer Georges Bizet,” Lezcano said. “It’s one of the greatest hits of the opera repertoire, so this is the orchestral prelude from that opera that’s been arranged for guitar. I would say that’s actually one of the most technically challenging pieces in the program.”
Lezcano said pieces within Guitar Ensemble’s repertoire for this performance were challenging.
“I’m very proud of the members of the group who have really worked hard to master this program,” Lezcano said. “It’s not an easy one; it’s a challenging program.”
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
