| Tom Littman Concert Manager 2237 Alice Pratt Brown Hall 713-348-4933 littman@rice.edu |
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| Unless otherwise noted, admission to all events is free and tickets are not required. Programs are subject to change without notice. For information, call the Shepherd School Concert Office at 713-348-8000. |
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PERUVIAN CHORUS TO STOP IN HOUSTON
Much of the art and music of this colonial period has lain dormant for the past three centuries, but a rebirth of interest has resulted in the formation of the Laudate Project, a private organization officially sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and the National Congress of Peru to recover art and music from the vice-regal era. Out of this project have come two major events. One is an exhibition of 175 works of art of this period at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Titled “The Colonial Andes: Tapestries and Silverwork, 1530-1830,” the exhibit features Inca and colonial garments and tapestries, ritual and domestic silverwork and a select group of important colonial paintings and other related objects. The second event is a four-city concert tour of music of this period by the 35-member Peruvian chorus Lima Triumphante, the official musical group of the Laudate Project. The group has been commissioned solely to perform Andean music from the vice-regal era as the manuscripts, which were discovered in the archives of a Peruvian seminary, are catalogued and recorded. The tour, which presents the North American premieres of works of this period, will visit Boston, New York and Washington before ending in Houston at the Shepherd School of Music, where Shepherd School instrumentalists will join in the performance. The Shepherd School was chosen as one of the tour venues due to the efforts of Phillip Kloeckner, organist and lecturer in music at Rice. Five years ago, when Kloeckner was doing doctoral research on 19th-century organs and organ music in Peru, he became acquainted with a number of musicians and musicologists there. When he announced plans to return to Peru last summer, they asked if he would be interested in becoming involved in the Laudate Project. He accepted the invitation and subsequently became the North American representative for the project. At that time, the New York art exhibit was already scheduled, including a performance of music at the museum. Although the Peruvians wanted to bring the musical performances to other cities, they needed to engage U.S. musicians who could play in the baroque style with baroque instruments, since that tradition is not yet highly developed in Peru. Kloeckner helped them expand the tour. Kloeckner describes the music of this period as “derived from the Western classical tradition that is very familiar to us.” “The fascinating part is that it was composed by Incas who were instructed by the Spanish,” he said. “They learned the European tradition but wrote in their own style. What happened is an extraordinary fusion of Western and Andean traditions.” Lima Triumphante will perform at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, in Stude Concert Hall under the direction of José Quezada Macchiavello. Shepherd School instrumentalists will collaborate with those of the chorus, playing instruments of the vice-regal period. They include Kenneth Goldsmith, Sylvia Ouellette, Turi Hoiseth, Emily Dahl and Kristi Helberg on the baroque violin; Gregory Barnett on the violone; Steve Estes on the baroque cello; Barbara Downie on the baroque viola; and Kloeckner on the harpsichord. Admission is $10, $8 for students and senior citizens. For tickets, call 713-348-8000. A preconcert lecture will be at 7 p.m. in Room 1133, Alice Pratt Brown Hall. |
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