Fans of symphony orchestra will learn about the diversity within the world of music with an upcoming performance at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.
The Bloomington Symphony Orchestra will stage a show March 4 in collaboration with IU’s Latin American Music Center.
“Scene Change: Music of Latin America” looks to redefine ideas surrounding Latin American music.
Donna Lafferty, executive director of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, said the idea stemmed from BSO violinist Christine Wisch’s involvement in the Latin American Music Center.
“They have some music in their library that they have the only copy of in existence,” Lafferty said. “One of the pieces is called ‘Ash Wednesday,’ by a composer named Juan Orrego–Salas. It was a piece he wrote in the 1980’s, dedicated to his son, a conductor.”
There have been a few attempts made to premiere this piece, but it has yet to be performed on a massive stage, Lafferty said.
BSO will play “Ash Wednesday” at the March 4 concert alongside another piece, ”Introduccion y Allegro,” by Orrego-Salas, as well as the work of many other composers.
“We’re also doing a little thing in the lobby before the concert and during intermission where the Latin American Music Center is going to bring instruments we’re not familiar with and let audience members try those out,” Lafferty said.
The goals of the show are to show that Latin American music goes beyond the bounds of salsa and mariachi, said Alejandro Gómez-Guillén, artistic director and conductor of the BSO, in a news release.
“We’re playing stuff by composers who are not household names here but are in the Latin American tradition,” Lafferty said. “Our conductor growing up with his music is very cool — this is his first season with us — and the fact that this collaboration came up in his premiere season is pretty cool. Alejandro grew up listening to this composer.”
