the forgotten concerts

The forgotten concerts

A Collection

Concert programs and other documents

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz

2 The Forgotten Concerts

In my native country, Cuba, I had the opportunity to study guitar and musical composition with the best professors. As a composer I also had the possibility to have my music played by renowned performers; some of which achieved great national and international recognition at a later time.

In 1983, I left my country with meager chances of ever returning to it, and established my residence in the United States. Confronting the inevitable odds, and knowing that I may had not been able to further my artistic career any longer, I collected as much information as possible about my musical activities, and started sending it abroad with relatives and friends. That way, I was able to preserve numerous concert programs, press clips and, most importantly, original compositions that otherwise would have been lost.

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz Once living in the United States I certainly continued composing and was lucky enough,

once again, to being able to hear my music played by excellent performers and ensembles. I would like to share my modest untold story through the publication of this collection of materials related to the performance of my music. I think these documents possess historical value because they cover a period of Cuban music, the 1970s decade, on which very little has been written. This statement is particularly true in reference to a group of artists that gathered under the Brigada Hermanos Saíz, the junior branch of the National Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC). Most of them left Cuba after 1980, and settled in different countries throughout the world.

I would like for this document to serve as a humble homage to all those who have shown

interest in my music and have collaborated with its diffusion; and also to the efforts of those artists of my generation that strived to leave behind a valuable legacy in spite of all the difficulties and hardships they had to endure.

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz 3

Graduation recital of Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz. Sala Talía, October 24, 1972. Havana, Cuba.


Roberto Urbay Between 1971 and 1972, I dedicated myself to composing my

first seriously elaborated piece. Conceived for piano and structured in three sections, this piece was called Sonatina. I began working on it before studying contemporary composition techniques and decided to do whatever I would like, freely, without considering any rules. Soon after, I had to take a class of contemporary harmony that represented the culmination of my theorical training before graduating. As my first project I brought a draft of the Sonatina to my professor,

Roberto Valera. After reviewing the piece at the piano, he explained to me in detail how I had used almost all the techniques that we were going to learn at a later time. That way, the Sonatina served in some way as a final thesis for the course.

Immediately after composing it I gave it to my friend Roberto Urbay, who showed great enthusiasm about it. He premiered the piece at a later time, in 1975, during a music festival held at the Thalía concert hall in Havana, and his wonderful performance received many accolades from the public. Roberto played the piece again in several occasions.1

María de los Angeles Vivar, Roberto Urbay, Enrique Pessino and Armando Rodríguez at a concert in the Alejandro García Caturla Conservatory, circa 1964. This was the first time we all played in public.

1 Sonatina for Piano – Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TOwRh_m4qs


Music Festival of the Socialist Countries. Sonatina, for piano. Roberto Urbay, piano.


Roberto Urbay

From an article in Revista Bohemia, Havana Cuba.


First Festival of Cuban Contemporary Music. Havana, Cuba. Intentos I and II, for guitar, ArmandoRodríguez, guitar. December 2, 1975.


Jornada Martiana. Brigada Hermanos Saíz. Proyecto V, for piano with two performers, Juan Piñera and Armando Rodríguez. Variaciones sobre un tema de Leo Brouwer, Doris Oropesa, piano.2 January 27, 1976.

2 Variaciones sobre un tema de Leo Brouwer. Doris Oropesa, piano. Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qe8NmjcaOE


Juan Piñera

Juan Piñera is one of the most accomplished composers of the Brigada Hermanos Saíz generation and a great friend. I always admired his talent and shared with him opinions on many subjects. He generously collaborated with me on any project for which I requested his contribution and enthusiastically participated in the performance of some of my pieces, like Proyecto V. In the concert where that piece was premiered, he played on the piano keyboard while I played directly over the bare strings of the instrument.


Efraín Amador and Doris Oropesa

Guitarist and lutist Efraín Amador is credited for having achieved the inclusion of the Cuban “lute” and “tres” performance techniques in the academic programs of art schools in Cuba. He has closely collaborated with his wife, pianist Doris Oropesa, in the promotion and diffusion of a new repertoire especially created for those instruments.

While studying at the National School of Arts we established a strong relationship and they

embraced the efforts to perform my music wholeheartedly. Efraín and Doris came to be something like the official performers of my pieces for piano and guitar at that time. They premiered and recorded many of them.


Musical Panorama of the Guitar. Intentos I and II, for guitar, Armando Rodríguez, guitar. March 4, 1976.


Recital of pianist Roberto Urbay. Sonatina, for piano. February 25, 1977.


Timbre- Espacio – Tiempo (Timbre-Space-Time), for vibraphone. Lorenzo Barés, percussion. July 22, 1977.


Percussion Group of the National School of Arts (E.N.A.). Timbre- Espacio – Tiempo (Timbre-Space-Time) for vibraphone, Lorenzo Barés, percussion. September 12, 1977.


Lucy Provedo

Lucy Provedo is a renowned Cuban soprano. She dedicated much time and effort to the performance of contemporary music, and premiered numerous pieces by renowned composers as Leo Brouwer, Harold Gramates, Héctor Angulo, Alfredo Diez Nieto and Calixto Álvarez, among others. Lucy also premiered famous Arnold Shomberg’s vocal piece Pierrot Lunaire in Cuba.

“One day, someone came to my house. He was working on a program for which several contemporary composers such as Maestros Carlos Fariñas, Leo Brouwer and Harold Gramatges had written pieces with texts from José Martí. The composition by Leo Brouwer was titled Es el amor quien ve, and was dedicated to Fina García Marruz. I remember that this person asked me if I wanted to premiere the piece, and I, without having read it or even knowing anything about it, said yes. That was the first contemporary piece that I had ever come to know until that moment.” From an interview with Lucy Provedo.3

3 Rico Hernández, Yarelis: Dama del Canto Lírico. Palabra Nueva.net, Julio-Agosto 2007.

http://www.palabranueva.net/contens/0707/0001012-2.htm


22 Composers with José Martí. Palace of Fine Arts, Havana. Dos Poemas, for voice and piano, Lucy Provedo, soprano and Juan Piñera, piano. January 24, 1978.


Miguel Villafruela

Miguel Villafruela began stuying saxophone in his hometown of Hoguín, Cuba, and continued at the National School of Arts in Havana, where he graduated in 1976 under the guidance of professors Osvaldo González and Carlos Averhoff. At a later time, he went to study with Daniel Deffayet at the Conservatoire National de Musique in Paris, and won the Premier Prix de Saxophone in 1982. Villafruela has achieved great recognition and performed extensively throughout the world.


Concert of Miguel Villafruela. Casa de La Cultura, Plaza, Havana. Boceto for Saxophone alto and piano.4 March 1978.

4 Boceto for Saxophone and piano. Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38B2bG_pXvI


Third Festival of Young Performers. Intento No.2 and Sobre Victor Jara, for guitar. Miguel Bonachea, guitar. Four preludes for piano. Doris Oropesa, piano. 1978.


Percussion Group of the National School of Arts (E.N.A). Prelude, for vibraphone, Angel Luis Soler. Interacción, for two percussionists, Damarik Favier and Angel Luis Soler. July 1978.


Percussion Group of the National School of Arts (E.N.A). Prelude, for vibraphone, Angel Luis Soler. Interacción, for two percussionists, Damarik Favier and Angel Luis Soler. December 7, 1978.


Gathering of Guitarists from Latin American and the Caribbean. Concert of Efraín Amador. Ad Inversum and Sobre Victor Jara, for guitar.5 October 31, 1978.

5 Sobre Victor Jara for guitar. Efraín Amador, guitar. Youtube. http://youtu.be/EOtkjZI1u6o


International Ballet Festival, Havana. Levántate. Choreography by Gladys González. Jorge Esquivel, soloist. October 17, 1978.


Evelio Tieles

Evelio Tieles studied with Jacques Thibaud and René Benedetti in Paris, and finished his postgraduate studies with David and Igor Oistrakh in Moscow. He developed a career as a performer and served as professor at the National School of Arts in Havana. Later in his life he established his residence in Spain.

Maestro Tieles had a well established reputation as a conservative in regards to musical repertoire, but nonetheless, when I received the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) Musical Composition Award in 1978, he generously committed to premiere my piece, in spite of being rendered on a very unconventional score. Tieles conscientiously embraced the task and I think that at the end he enjoyed performing it, because he didn’t played it once on the awards concert, as it was expected, but one more time on a separate concert of the National Symphony Orchestra.


National Cuban Symphony Orchestra. Third Contemprary Music Festival of the Socialist Countries. Ciclos, for violin and orchestra. Evelio Tieles, violin. February 25, 1979.


Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Night of the Guitar. Levántate. Choreography by Gladys González. Jorge Esquivel, soloist. July 3, 1979.


Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Night of the Guitar. Levántate. Choreography by Gladys González. Jorge Esquivel, soloist. July 14, 1979.


SUBTROPICS.ORG

EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC + SOUND ART IN

MIAMI

Category Archives: early days

events from the early days of the Composers Alliance

DEC 21| NO comments

EARLY DAYS

MUSIC BY LIVING COMPOSERS

12/21/86

Art & Culture Center, Hollywood

Music by Living Composers

In Memoriam Charles E. Ives***, Armando Rodríguez

Mary Kauffman, piano

frederic rzevski Dreadful Memories***, Frederic Rzewski. Mary Kauffman, piano6

Body Light, Lili Bita & Daniel Adams

A one-woman show of original love poetry presented Acropolis

Lili Bita, author-performer; Daniel Adams, composer-performer;

Robbi Buckley Burns, director; Marilyn R. Skow, costume designer;

Robert Zaller, translator

*world premiere, **us premiere, *** south florida premiere

6 In memoriam Charles E. Ives for piano. Mary Kauffman, piano. Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c34PFMMi_p8


SUBTROPICS.ORG


MIAMI



OCT 08 | NO comments

EARLY DAYS

LATIN AMERICAN COMPOSERS

rene gonzalez, guitar

10/08/88

Opus Art Studios

Latin American Composers

featuring René González, guitar

Elipsoidal A Soto*, Gustavo Matamoros

Suite Venezolana, Antonio Lauro

Logos**, Armando Rodríguez

Paisanos Semos***, Tania León

Guitarra*, Orlando Jacinto García



SUBTROPICS.ORG

EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC + SOUND ART IN MIAMI



JUL 09 | NO comments

EARLY DAYS


07/09/88

Opus Art Studios


Transformations #2***, Max Lifchitz

Thomas Moore, violin

Timbre-Espacio-Tiempo**, Armando Rodríguez

Steven Smith, vibraphone7

For Morton, Orlando J. García Eugene Eicher, cello; Steven Smith,

percussion; Orlando J. García, Bb clarinet

Truly Yours, Gustavo Matamoros

Steven Smith, xylophone


7 Tmbre-Space-Time for vibraphone. Steven Smith, vibraphone. Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUU7xkx_zkA


Max Lifchitz

Max Lifchitz is a renowned Mexican pianist, composer and conductor. He has appeared in concerts in the US, Europe and Latin America and is the founder of the North/South Consonance Ensemble, which is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music from the Americas. Lifchitz has been a professor of Columbia University and the University at Albany, The State University of New York.


SUBTROPICS.ORG


MIAMI



NOV 09 | NO comments

EARLY DAYS

AMERICAN MUSIC WEEK CONCERT

11/09/89

M-D Main Public Library

American Music Week Concert

Hispanic Composers Series

Guest Artist: Max Lifchitz, piano

Sonata, Roque Cordero

Página en Blanco y Staccato***, William Ortiz

Maxienia***, Manuel Enriquez

Tres Estudios Sobre el Silencio***, Germán Cáceres

In Memoriam Charles E. Ives, Armando Rodríguez

September 1987***, Orlando Jacinto García

Implications***, Max Lifchitz



SUBTROPICS.ORG


MIAMI



FEB 18| NO comments

EARLY DAYS


02/18/89

Opus Art Studios


Shantiniketan, Alicia Terzian

Lisa LaCross, flute

alicia terzian

5 Mensajes para 4 Amigos, Roque Cordero

René González, guitar

Harawi*, Luis Jorge González

René González, guitar; Lisa LaCross, flute

Prelude and Fugue**, Armando Rodríguez

Max VanDerBeek, vibraphone8

Variations on Metallic and Wooden Shades***, Orlando García

Pamela M.-Adelstein; Max VanDerBeek, vibraphone


8Prelude and Fugue for vibraphone. Max Van der Beek, vibraphone. Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW9e48jpQNY


Carlos Molina

Renowned guitarist Carlos Molina is one of the founders of the modern Cuban Guitar School. Through his many concerts and activities he has consistently promoted the work of numerous Cuban composers that has written for this instrument, including Leo Brouwer, who dedicated his piece Canticum to him. Other composers that have dedicated works to him are the Russian Nikita Koshkin, Olivier Chassain, Gerard Drozd, Roberto Fabbri, Jon Christopher Nelson, Orlando Jacinto García, Carlos Rafael Rivera, Timothy Melbinger, Antonino Hernández Lisazo, Carlos Atilano, and his brother Luis Manuel Molina. He has been an enthusiastic advocate of my 12 Studies for guitar, which I also dedicated to him.


SUBTROPICS.ORG




DEC 02 | NO comments

EARLY DAYS

GUEST SERIES: CARLOS MOLINA, GUITAR

12/02/89

The Strand, Miami Beach

Music by Cuban Composers

Guest Artist Series: Carlos Molina, guitar

Six Variations on a Theme of Luys Milan, Joaquin

Nin-Culmell

Cantos Yoruba, Hector Angulo

Sonata, José Ardevol

Asymmetrical Shadows*, Orlando J. García

Studies for Guitar***, Armando Rodríguez

Variations on the Yenyere***, Flores Chaviano

Three Selected Works, Leo Brouwer



SUBTROPICS.ORG




FEB 25 | NO comments

EARLY DAYS

INTERNATIONAL COMPOSERS CONCERT

02/25/90

Art & Culture Center, Hollywood

Int’l Composers Concert

Five Pieces For Piano, Op 23, Arnold Schoenberg

Bonny Miller, piano

Aussie Blues, Stuart Smith

Miguel Salvador, piano

Armando rodríguez Configurations*, Armando Rodriguez

Miguel Salvador, piano

Three Songs, Op. 25, Anton Webern

Susan Boardman, soprano; Bonny Miller, piano

Synchronisms #6*** (pno & tape), Mario Davidovsky

Bonny Miller, piano

statistics: 1 world premiere, 1 florida premiere, 1 florida

composer, 2 us composers, 2 hispanic composers



South Florida Composers Alliance Concert. Configurations, for piano. Miguel Salvador, piano. February 25, 1990.


Kate Rawlinson

Kate Rawlinson is a visual artist, curator and museum expert that from 1985 to 1991 was associated to the Florida International University in Miami as Adjunct Studio Art instructor and Visiting Artist. I had the pleasure to collaborate with her on the creation of a multi-media installation for the First Inter-Mix Festival, organized by the South Florida Composers Alliance in 1990. It was certainly a very nice experience.

Surrounded by relatives and friends at the installation opening.


Terra

Incognita,

audio-visual

installation.

Opus Art

Studios.

September 14,

1990.


SUBTROPICS.ORG


Category Archives: interMIX installations festival

an installations festival of never-before exhibited collaborations between composers

and visual artist

SEP 14 | NO comments

INTERMIX INSTALLATIONS FESTIVAL

TERRA INCOGNITA

09/14/90

Opus Art Studios

InterMIX I Installations Festival

collaborations between composers and visual artists

second two weeks: 9/14/90 – 9/21/90

Terra Incognita*

Kate Rawlinson, artist

Armando Rodriguez, composer

intermedia installation



International Guitar Festival of the Guitar Foundation of America. 12 Studies for guitar. Carlos Molina, guitar. August 14, 1990.


Letter from the Florida Department of State, notifying the adjudication of an individual fellowship award to Armando Rodríguez. September 24, 1990.


Flores Chaviano

Flores Chaviano and Armando Rodríguez

Cuban Composer and guitarist Flores Chaviano is one of the members of Brigada Hermanos Saíz that has achieved greater recognition outside his country. Established in Spain since the 1980s, Chaviano developed a successful career as a guitarist, composer and professor. His works have been played internationally by many reputable soloist, ensembles and orchestras.

In 1990, I had just finished Occupied Space (an electroacoustic piece for guitar and tape) when I had the unexpected opportunity to gather in Miami with Flores Chaviano, that was visiting the City at that time. I proposed him to record the piece at a friend’s studio and he accepted without hesitation. The recording was a of course a success; I dedicated the piece to him, and he premiered it shortly after at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid.9

9 Occupied Space for guitar and tape, Flores Chaviano, guitar. Youtube. http://youtu.be/pNtOFsk5at0


First Week of Contemporary Music Performance, Langreo, Asturies, Spain. Occupied Space for guitar and tape, Flores Chaviano, guitar. December 14, 1990.


The Miami Classical Guitar Ensemble. Florida International University. Overlapping Textures, for guitar. December 9, 1990.


Gustavo Matamoros

Gustavo Matamoros is a Venezuelan composer and sound-artist established in Miami

since 1979. I became acquainted with Gustavo and started collaborating in projects that he was involved as soon as I arrived in Miami, in 1983. In 1990 we united efforts to found the experimental music ensemble PUNTO, which was very active throughout the 1990s. We have continued working together in creative endeavors up to the present.

Gustavo Matamoros and Armando Rodríguez


PUNTO at Miami Dade Community College. Occupied Space, for guitar. Triangular. Gustavo matamoros and Armando Rodríguez February 5, 1991.


Florida International University New Music Ensemble. Triangular, open instrumentation. March 21, 1991.


Subtropics III. PUNTO concert. Occupied space, for guitar and tape. Armando Rodríguez, guitar. April 13, 1991.


Relâche

Relâche is a renowned American ensemble specialized on the performance of contemporary classical music. The group is based on Philadelphia. In 1991, motivated by a call for scores, I sent a tape with a recording of a piece I had recently composed to the Bang on a Can Festival organization. They promptly responded that they were interested and invited me to participate in the festival. They also told me that my piece was going to be played by the Relâche ensemble. This name didn’t sound familiar to me at that time, but after doing some research I realized that I had been lucky enough to have the opportunity to hear my music played by one of the most famous contemporary ensembles in the US. The participation on the Bang on a Can Festival turned to be one of the greatest musical experiences I have ever enjoyed. My piece was premiered by the group along with others from renowned composers Somei Sato and Robert Ashley.


Bang on a Can Festival, Marathon Concert. La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, New York. Linear, open instrumentation. Relâche.10 May 12, 1991.

10 Linear. Elctroacoustic version. Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xEhtnzWZu0


PUNTO, Music Out of a Cage. Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida. Triangular and Bobile Textures,11 for guitar and tape. Armando Rodríguez, guitar. June 27, 1991.

11 Mobile Textures. Armando Rodríguez, guitar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aDSkmqAyhY


Guitar Festival of the Americas. New Perspectives, an avant garde showcase. Lecture – concert by Armando Rodríguez. Florida International University. Occupied Space, Mobile Textures and Overlapping Textures. November 10, 1991.


Ricardo Dal Farra

Argentinean composer Ricardo Dal Farra has enjoyed a successful career as a composer, multimedia artist, researcher, educator, performer and curator; focusing mainly on electroacoustic music and new media arts. He currently serves as Acting Director of the Hexagram-Concordia Centre for Research-Creation in Media Arts and Technology and Associate Professor of the Music Department at Concordia University, Montreal. He is also Co-director of Hexagram|CIAM (Centre Interuniversitaire des arts médiatiques); founding Director of CEIARTE, Centro de Experimentación e Investigación en Artes Electrónicas (Electronic Arts Research Centre) at Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero in Buenos Aires; and Associated Researcher to the MTI Research Centre, De Montfort University, UK.

I had the great pleasure to meet Ricardo Dal Farra at the Subtropics Festivals in Miami and we kept in contact for some time. As part of his valuable effort to promote and preserve the production of avant garde and electroacoustic music, particluarly from Latin America, he presented some of my pieces in Argentina and included them in catalogues and collections of prestigious institutions.


Electroacoustic Music Concert. Sala Juan Bautista Alberdi. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Linear, electroacoustic versión. November 8, 1991.


FIU New Music Ensemble. Florida International University. Linear, open instrumentation and tape. February 25, 1992.


Lester and Carmen Carrodeguas

I met Lester and Carmen Carrodeguas during the 1960s, while we were studying music at the National School of Arts in Havana. Many years after our graduation we met again in Miami. Since then, I have collaborated with them on numerous projects.

Lester Carrodeguas is a skilled Cuban composer and guitarist. Most recently he has

dedicated himself to teaching, as well as to musical production and engineering. His wife Carmen is an accomplished pianist and professor. When I was commissioned by the South Florida Composers Alliance to compose an hour long piece to be premiered at the Subtropics 4 Festival, Lester provided his personal studio and technical assistance for the production of the piece. Carmen, in turn, participated as one of the three performers of the piece. She played the acoustic piano at the center of the stage, while composer Gustavo Matamoros and I were positioned on the left and right sides with an electronic keyboard and several percussion instruments for each one to play.


Subtropics 4 Festival, Miami, Florida. The Hexagonal Galleries, for three performers.12 April 13, 1992.

12 The Hexagonal Galleries. 7- Limitless and Periodic. http://youtu.be/477UYhPfIHc


Luis Gómez-Imbert

Luis Gómez-Imbert is a virtuoso Venezuelan double bassist that studied with Jeff Bradetich, Gary Karr, Bertram Turtzky, Frantisek Posta, David Walter and Edgar Meyer. He graduated Summa Cum Laude at Northwestern University in 1988. Since then he performed extensively throughout the US, Europe and Latin America and served as a professor at the Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

Gomez-Imbert has been an avid promoter of contemporary music, always eager to add a new interesting piece to his instrument’s repertoire. I met Luis at the Subtropics 4 Festival in 1992, and almost immediately he requested from me to compose a piece for him. Shortly after, I gave him From Darkness to Light, for double bass and tape, and he premiered it without much delay. He performed the piece in concerts and festival several times.13

13 From darkness to light. Electroacoustic version. Youtube. http://youtu.be/a4CRLGg5mDQ


An evening of Music for Bass, Luis Gómez-Imbert. Florida International University, Athenaeum. From Darkness to Light, for double bass and tape. Luis Gómez-Imbert, double bass. October 22, 1992.


6th Latin American Music Festival. Sala Teresa Carreño, Caracas, Venezuela. From Darkness to Light, for double bass and tape. Luis Gómez-Imbert, double bass. November 24, 1992.


Subtropics 5 Music Festival. Round Trip Miami-Madrid. Miami-Dade Community College. Wolfson Campus Auditorium. A Quiet World, for voice and tape.14 Voice, Armando Rodríguez. March 26, 1993.

14 A Quiet World. Electroacoustic version. Youtube. http://youtu.be/sBKoyjYPv7c


Subtropics 5 Music Festival. Round Trip Miami-Madrid. Miami-Dade Community College. Wolfson Campus Auditorium. Occupied Space for guitar and tape. Armando Rodríguez, guitar. From darkness to light for double bass and tape. Luis Gómez-Imbert, double bass. April 17, 1993.


GME – Cuenca and Florida. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain. The spiral staircase, for piano and tape.15 Eva Alcázar, piano. July 1, 1994.

15 The Hexagonal Galleries. The Spiral Staircase. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqjxBvRlKfs


Free Subtropics New Music Festival. A storm was coming over the quiet pond,16 for open instrumentation. Armando Rodríguez, piano (keyboard), Gustavo Matamoros piano (strings), Luis Gómez Imbert, double bass. April 8, 1995.

16 A storm was coming over the quiet pond. Youtube. http://youtu.be/ijYCeLMsYkI


Rethinking Martí. Florida International University. Institute of Cuban Investigations. José Martí in the Quarries of San Lázaro, for piano and voice. Armando Rodríguez, piano (keyboard) and voice, Gustavo Matamoros, Piano (strings). October 27, 1995.


Punto – Songs of Order and Disorder. Ground Level Gallery. Miami Beach, Miami, Florida. A Quiet World, for voice and tape. Armando Rodríguez, voice. October 30, 1995.


The Florida International University New Music Ensemble. Concert of Chamber and Solo Works. Triangular, for open instrumentation, The FIU New Music Ensemble. December 5, 1995.


Latin American New Music Forum. Florida International University School of Music. Threshold, for choir. The FIU Choir. October 5, 1997.


Beatriz Balzi

One day in 1998, I received an unexpected letter from Argentinean-Brazilian pianist Beatriz Balzi. She was telling me in the letter that she had played one of my pieces (Variations on a Theme by Leo Brouwer) several times in concerts, and that she liked it very much. Beatriz wanted to include the piece in one of the CDs of an Anthology of Latin American music she had been working on for some time then, and was requesting my authorization. I didn’t know who she was at that time, but I was delighted with the idea and immediately sent her a positive response.

I couldn’t find much information about her at that time, but the project went on very well, Beatriz finally recorded the piece and it was included in the anthology. She sent me some copies of the CD and we exchanged some correspondence. I was very interested in bringing her to Miami to play, since it was obvious she was and expert and an advocate of contemporary music, but it was never possible.

Some years later, I came to know that she had unfortunately passed away in 2001, and looked for more information about her. Then I found about Balzi’s impressive professional background and achievements. She studied piano with renowned professor Vicente Scaramuzza and composition with Alberto Ginastera and Camargo Guarnieri. After establishing her residence in Brazil in 1960, she developed a very successful international career as a concert piano and professor; but maybe her most important contribution was related to the area of musicology. Beatriz Balzi dedicated considerable effort to research and study the contemporary Latin-American piano repertory, looking for the most relevant and representative pieces. For that purpose, she took advantage of her contacts at festivals and academic forums to collect a considerable number of works from Latin-American contemporary composers.

Her most important project was a collection of recordings titled Compositores Latino-Americanos that was intended to contain at least one piece of each Latin-American country. She was able to record works from thirteen countries in five CDs that comprised seven sections. That was the anthology where my piece was included.


New Music Miami ISCM Festival. The Wolfsonian at FIU, Miami Beach, Miami, Florida. Intersections, for tape. April 10, 2004.


XIII Contermporary Music Sessions of Segovia. Segovia, Spain. Timbre-Space-Time, for vibraphone. October 20, 2006.


2nd International Guitar Competition and Assemblage 2006. Coral Gables Woman’s Club, Miami, Florida. An inner perspective – Guitar compositions of Armando Rodríguez, lecture – concert featuring Carlos Molina.


The Guitar in Cuba. Lecture – Concert. Institute of Cuban and Cuban-American studies, University of Miami. March 2, 2007.


Julio Roloff

Cuban composer and double bassist Julio Roloff participated in the activities of the Brigada Hermanos Saíz during the 1970s. In 1980 he began receiving instruction and working at the ICAP Electroacoustic Studio in Havana, Cuba, where he had the opportunity to experiments with electrouacoustic music techniques. He participated in concerts and Festivals such as the International Electroacoustic Music Festival "Primavera en Varadero", celebrated in Varadero Beach, Cuba, the Festivales Latinoamericanos de Música and the Subtropics Festival, in Miami, Florida.

I met Julio at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, where we both studied musical composition. In 1993, he established his residence in the US, where he has closely collaborated with the South Florida Composers Alliance and the PUNTO experimental music ensemble. In 2012, Julio actively participated in the production of a concert dedicated to my music and sponsored by the subtropics.org organization, called Occupied Spaces.

Armando Rodríguez and Julio Roloff at the Occupied Spaces event.


SUBTROPICS.ORG


MIAMI

AUDIOTHEQUE | STUDIO 201, LISTENING GALLERY

ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ: OCCUPIED SPACES

Posted by director on December 5, 2012 at 9:00 pm.

A concert in celebration of the opening of his

Listening Gallery installation, Radiance 2

featuring Armando Rodriguez

with special guest, Julio Roloff on Bass

Wednesday, December 5, 2012 | 9

PM

Audiotheque

924 Lincoln Road | Studio 201

Miami Beach, FL 33139

Free and open to the public. Space is limited and

available on a first-come-first-served basis.

______

Occupied Spaces shows a concise retrospective of electro-acoustic and multimedia works from

composer Armando Rodríguez. Armando Rodríguez has worked with electroacoustics and multimedia

since the 1990s, and his style could be related to such concepts as Process Music, Minimalism,

Spectralism, Conceptual art, Optic Art and Performance art.

This time, the audience will be able to enjoy a combination of electro-acoustics, video image projections

and live performances of mixed media, including instruments such as the Galician bagpipes, Double

Bass, Guitar and others, as well as some elements of Performance Art.


Program:

1 – Linear – 1990 – 5:25 min. – Tape + Instruments

2 – Morphing Textures – 6:57 min. – Tape + Video

3 – Occupied Space – 1990 – 6:31 min. – Tape + Guitar

4 – Radiance – 7:03 min. Tape + Video

5 – A Quiet World -1993 – 9:36 min. – Tape + Voice + Video

6 - El largo camino a Santiago – 1998 – 7:43 min. – Tape + Galician Bagpipe + Video

7 – From Darkness to Light – 1992 – 12:06 min. Tape + Double Bass + video

Total duration without interruption: 55:35 min.

_____________

Listening Gallery programs at Audiotheque are organized by

SFCA[isaw+subtropics.org]

leading proponent of experimental music and sound art in the Southeast


ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ: RADIANCE 2

RADIANCE 2

A new sound installation by Armando Rodriguez

commissioned for the Listening Gallery by SFCA[isaw+subtropics.org]

in celebration of Art Basel week

beginning DECEMBER 01, 2012

and PLAYING through JANUARY 05, 1231


List of Musical Compositions and Performances. 1- Sonatina - 1972 - Piano - Duration (All durations disclosed are approximate) - 7:00 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TOwRh_m4qs Performances: Roberto Urbay - Primer Festival De Música de los Países Socialistas, Sala Thalía, La Habana, Cuba - 1975. Roberto Urbay - Biblioteca Nacional José Martí, Habana Cuba, 2-25-77. 2- Música para Jóvenes Guitarristas - 1973 - Guitarra - Collection of Pieces. 3- Intentos I y II - 1974 - Guitarra. Efraín Amador - Primer Festival de Música Contemporánea Cubana, Teatro Amadeo Roldán, La Habana, Cuba, 12-3-75. Armando Rodríguez - Panorama Musical de la Guitarra, Biblioteca Nacional José Martí, La Habana, Cuba, April 1976. 4- Cuatro Preludios (Rev. Cinco Preludios)- 1975 - Piano - 7:50 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3QdAGUWzXk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzC0ZTg6ssg&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mtQpc7IDMQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF9F8ygUsro&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6eBtBi_s_o&feature=related Doris Oropesa, Biblioteca Nacional José Martí, La Habana, Cuba, 7-16-76. Doris Oropesa, Tercer Festival de Jóvenes Intérpretes, Sala Rubén Martínez Villena, UNEAC, La Habana, Cuba, 1978. Recorded: Doris Oropesa, EGREM, 1978. 5- Variaciones Sobre un Tema de Leo Brouwer - 1975 - Piano - 4:20 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qe8NmjcaOE Doris Oropesa - Bibl. Nac. José martí, La Habana, Cuba, 1-27-76 Recorded: Doris Oropesa, EGREM, 1978. Beatriz Balzi. Published: EGREM, 1978. 6- Proyecto - 1976 - Piano - 6:00 min. Juan Piñera - Armando Rodríguez, Biblioteca Nac. José Martí, La Habana, Cuba, 1-27-76. 7- Boceto (Esquisse) - 1977 – Alto Sax. and Piano. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38B2bG_pXvI Miguel Villafruela, Casa de la Cultura Plaza, Habana, Cuba, March, 1978. 8- Preludio y Fuga - 1977 – Piano – 4:39 min. http://www.youtube.com/user/Ruidiaz4312?feature=mhee#p/u/16/XbpxeVL6T6Y Antonio Carbonell, Bibl. Nac. José Martí, 1977. 9- Preludio y Fuga - 1977 - Vibraphone - 5:00 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW9e48jpQNY Angel Luis Soler, UNEAC, La Habana, Cuba, 1978. Max Van der Beek, Opus Art Studios, Miami, Florida, USA, 2-18-89 Published: C. Alan Publications, USA. 1991.


10 - Timbre - Espacio - Tiempo - 1977 - Vibraphone - 5:00 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUU7xkx_zkA Lorenzo Barés, Bibl. Nac. José Martí, 7-21-77 and 12-9-77. Steven Smith, Opus Art Studios, Miami, Florida, USA. 7-9-88. Recorded: Lorenzo Barés, EGREM, 1978. Published: C. Alan Publications. 1991. 11- Dos Poemas - 1977 - Voice and Piano. Lucy Provedo - Juan Piñera, Bibl. Nac. José Martí, La Habana, Cuba, 1-26-78. 12- Ciclos - 1977 - Violin and Orchestra - 10:00 min. Evelio Tieles - Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional - Teatro Garcia Lorca, La Habana, Cuba, 1-21-79. Evelio Tieles - Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, Teatro América, La Habana, Cuba, 2-25-79. 13- Sobre un tema de Víctor Jara (Levántate) - 1978 - Guitar - 6:00 min. http://youtu.be/EOtkjZI1u6o Ballet Nacional de Cuba - Coreografía Gladys González - Teatro García Lorca, La Habana, Cuba, 11-12-78. Ballet Nacional de Cuba - 6to Festival Internacional de Ballet, Teatro García Lorca, La Habana, Cuba, 11-17-78. Ballet Nacional de Cuba - Kennedy and Lincoln Centers, USA, 1979. 14- Interacción - 1978 - Percussion - 6:00 min. Damarik Favier - Angel Luis Soler, UNEAC, La Habana, Cuba, 1978. 15- 12 Estudios Para Guitarra - 1979 - Guitar. Carlos Molina, The Strand, Miami, Florida, USA, 12-2-89 Carlos Molina, Guitar Foundation of America Festival, 8-14-90 16- Expresiones - 1979 - Alto Saxophone. 17- In Memoriam Charles E. Ives - 1979 - Piano - 8:00 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c34PFMMi_p8 Max Lifchitz, Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, Florida, USA, 11-9-89. Lisa Kaufmann – South Florida Composers Alliance concert – Broward – 12-21-86 18- Toccata, Preludio y Fuga - 1980 - Guitar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuas3zVs2FU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqeCj9AVh74 Armando Rodríguez, University of Miami, 1-12-86. 19- Logos - 1984 - Guitar. Flores Chaviano, Primeras Jornadas de Música Contemporánea, Sevilla, España, 4-9-86. René González, Opus Art Studios, Miami, Florida, USA, 10-22-88. 20- Rest and Motion- 1989 - Guitar - 14:00 min. 21- Music For Different Timbres- 1989 - Tape - 11:23 min. http://youtu.be/U0Usi-PlDF0 New Visions Festival, Miami, Florida, USA, 1-20-90.


22- Configuration- 1989 - Piano - 9:50 min. Miguel Salvador, Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, Florida, USA, 2-24-90. Miguel Salvador, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Florida, USA, February 1990. 23- The Hidden House Beside the River - 1989 - Violin, Vibraphone and Piano. 24- Spatial Projection- 1990 - Tape - 2:50 min. 25- Linear - 1990 - Open Instrumentation - 5:00 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xEhtnzWZu0 Intermix Festival, Opus Art Studios, Miami, Florida, USA, 9-14-90. Reláche Ensemble, Bang On a Can Festival, New York, USA, 5-12-91. FIU New Music Ensemble, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, 2-25-92. Sala Juan Bautista Alberdi, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 11-8-91. 26- Triangular- 1990 - Open Instrumentation - 8:00 min. PUNTO Experimental Ensemble, Miami Dade Community College, Miami, Florida, USA, 2-5-91. FIU New Music Ensemble, Subtropics Festival, Miami, Florida, USA, 4-13-91. PUNTO Experimental Ensemble, Center for the Fine Arte, Miami, Florida, USA, 6-27-91. FIU New Music Ensemble, FIU Graham Center, Miami, Florida, USA, 12-5-95. 27- Spatial Progression – 1990 – Tape – 10:00 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRNIipi2SgY 28- Process - 1990 - Open Inst. - 10:00 min. 29- Divergent - 1990 - Open Inst. - 8:00 min. 30- Circular I and II - 1990 - 1990 - 10:00 to 15:00 min. 31- Occupied Space (Espacio Ocupado)- 1990 - Guitar and Tape - 6:50 min. http://youtu.be/pNtOFsk5at0 Flores Chaviano, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, España, 12-2-90. Flores Chaviano, Asturias, España, 12-14-90. Armando Rodríguez, Miami Dade Community Coolege, Miami, Florida, USA, 2-5-91. Armando Rodríguez, Subtropics III Festival, Miami, Florida, USA, 4-13-91. Armando Rodríguez, Guitar Festival of the Americas, Miami, Florida, 10-10-91. 32- Overlapping Textures- 1990 - 8 Guitars - 7:30 min. The Miami Classical Guitar Society Ensemble, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA, 12-9-90 and Guitar Festival of the Americas, Miami, Florida, USA, 11-10-91. 33- Mobile Textures- 1991 - 3 Guitars - 7:05 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aDSkmqAyhY Punto Experimental Ensemble, Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida, 6-27-91. Armando Rodríguez, Guitar Festival of the Americas, Miami, Florida, USA, 11-10-91. 34- The Helga Pictures - 1991 - Viola - 8:00 min. 35- Y la Tierra y el Mar - 1991- Soprano, Oboe, Viola and Piano - 7:40 min. 36- Virtual Configurations - 1991 - Percussion - 7:30 min.


37- The Hexagonal Galleries (Las Galerías Hexagonales) - 1992 - 3 Performers and Tape - 60:00 min. 1. The hexagonal galleries 2. The mirror 3. The spiral staircase 4. MCVMCVMCVMCVMCV 5. Labyrinth 6. Cryptographs 7. Limitless and periodic http://youtu.be/477UYhPfIHc

Subtropics Festival - Wolfson Campus Auditorium, Miami, Florida, USA, 4-13-92. 38- From Darkness to Light - 1992 - Double Bass and Tape - 12:20 min. http://youtu.be/a4CRLGg5mDQ Luis Gómez Imbert, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA, 10-22-92. Luis Gómez Imbert, IV Festival Latinoamericano de Música Contemporánea, Caracas, Venezuela, 11-24-92. Luis Gómez Imbert, Subtropics Festival, Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, Florida, USA, 4-17-93. Luis Gómez Imbert, Subtropics Festival, Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, Florida, USA, 1998. 39- El Silencio - 1992 - Solo Voice - 7:30 min. http://youtu.be/kR3ZKrJVcl8 40- A Quiet World -1993 - Voice and Tape - 10:30 min. http://youtu.be/sBKoyjYPv7c Armando Rodríguez, Subtropics Festival, Wolfson Campus Auditorium, Miami, Florida, USA, 3-26-93. 41- That Day (Ese Día) - 1994 - Voice and Tape - 7:15 min. Gustavo Matamoros, Subtropics Festival VI, Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, Florida, USA, 3-19-94. 42- A storm was coming over the quiet pond - 1995 - Open Instrumentation - 10:00 min. http://youtu.be/ijYCeLMsYkI Armando Rodríguez, piano with tape. Subtropics Festival, Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, Florida, USA, 4-8-95. Drew Krause, piano with tape. An Evening of Music by Cuban Composers, Florida International University School of Music, USA, 3-19-99. 43- José Martí en las canteras de San Lázaro - 1995- Voice and Piano - 9:30 min. Armando Rodríguez, Rethinking Martí, Florida International Universtity, Miami, Florida, USA, 10-26-95. 44- Until the death arrived - 1996 - Voice and Double Bass - 8:00 min. 45- Threshold - 1997 - Solo Choir - 9:00 min. Florida International University Choir, Latin American Music Forum, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA, 10-2-97. 46- El largo camino a Santiago - 1998 - Galician Bagpipe (Gaita gallega en Do) and undetermined instrumental ensemble - 8:00 min. http://youtu.be/IDhoAiFNyzY Armando Rodríguez, Subtropics Festival, Miami, Florida, 1998. 47- Spectrum – 2001 – Solo Galician Bagpipes (Gaita gallega en Do o Re). Armando Rodríguez, Subtropics Festival, Miami, Florida, 2001. Armando Rodríguez, South Florida Composers Alliance Concert, Miami, Florida, 2001. 48 – Scherzando – 2003 – Violin and Piano – 5:40 min. http://youtu.be/F0JL42AnVLk


49- Incidental music to accompany a tyrant’s descent to hell – 2004 – Trombone and Bass Clarinet - 16:25 min.

1 - Sea of Sorrow (Mar de Angustias) 2 - Troubled Waters (Aguas Picadas)

3 - A cortege of infamy (El Cortejo de la Infamia) http://youtu.be/Ti94WMMHmeU

50- Eight electro-acoustic pieces – 2004 – Tape – 63:50 min.

1 - Tonal Shades 1 (Radiance) http://youtu.be/qqFLWoWRz_4 2 – Intersections http://youtu.be/g3Xe_SZLJB4 3 - Tonal Shades 2 4 - Morphing Textures http://youtu.be/nIXNt-WSd-M 5 - Tonal Shades 3 6 - Floating Textures 1 http://youtu.be/ksvmVeaK24o

7 - Tonal Shades 4 8 - Floating Textures 2 Morphing Textures. Presented at: Subtropics.org Listening Gallery. 800-810 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, Florida. December 2011. 51- Abyss – 2004 – Tape - 11:08 min. http://youtu.be/hcM62hJw5o4

52- In Memoriam Alberto Alén – 2004 – Tape – 10:06 min. http://youtu.be/RDbXCG6dkpo 53- Cuatro imágenes (Four images) – 2005 – Tape – 22:18 min.

1 - Meditación (Meditation) http://youtu.be/J0SC60l-_SI

A young person wanders through the woods looking for enlightenment, and finally finds it.

Un joven deambula por el bosque buscando la iluminación, y al fin la encuentra. 2 - Paisaje marino (Seascape) http://youtu.be/N0M-aTAaoG8

Beside the beach, the garbage left by numerous visitors accumulates during the day. At sunset, creatures of the night approach the spot to indulge on the remains until dawn.

A un costado de la playa se acumulan los desperdicios que han arrojado numerosos visitantes durante el día. Al ponerse el sol, las criaturas de la noche se acercan al lugar para cebarse con los despojos, hasta que los primeros rayos del sol anuncian el amanecer. 3 - Desintegración (Disintegration) http://youtu.be/p3-SNSRXqQw

The old car returns from its last trip and is left to suffer a slow disintegration process in the backyard.

El viejo auto regresa de su último viaje y es abandonado a sufrir un lento proceso de desintegración en el traspatio.

4 - Carnaval (Carnival) http://youtu.be/-42nEl1u_nI


A ghostly carnival crowd (“comparsa”) roams through the streets of a city that doesn’t exist anymore, on a dark night. Other haunted “comparsas” join them, bringing echoes from past times, and all the spectral noise ends on an abandoned church where we can hear the sound of an organ played by invisible hands. Una comparsa fantasmagórica recorre las calles de una ciudad que ya no existe, durante la noche oscura. A ella se suman otras comparsas espectrales que aportan ecos de tiempos pretéritos, y todo el barullo de ultratumba concluye en una vieja iglesia desocupada donde se escucha un órgano ejecutado por manos invisibles.

54- Desde la Oscuridad (From the Darkness) – 2005 – Flute, Clarinet, Violin and Violoncello – 15:11 min. http://youtu.be/HgjwjylD-38 55 – Perdido en la gran ciudad - (Lost in the big city) – 2005 - 7:14 min. http://youtu.be/QJxiy7eMK6o

56- El peso del silencio – 2005 – 2 sopranos, Viola and Guitar – Text – Armando Rodríguez – 3:18 min. 57- Cantos y Danzas Tristes – (Sad songs and dances) – 2007 –

Piano – 20:14 min.

Melancolía – Melancholy http://youtu.be/mOi4NgrwBs0 Añoranza – Yearning http://youtu.be/c9GKCbFcfhc Obsesión – Obsession http://youtu.be/aMDpPeNGVZA Soledad – Solitude http://youtu.be/nsHyyc7BY1s Nostalgia – Nostalgia http://youtu.be/Uy4WnO4OYew Vals Apasionado – Passionate waltz http://youtu.be/FuLC_NvpPQQ Lágrimas – Tears http://youtu.be/M2db-qLHgbg Penas de Amor – Love sorrows http://youtu.be/t2MpBii7Fas

© 2013 by Armando Rodríguez. All rights reserved.

the forgotten concerts

Documents

dade community college

wolfson campus auditorium

brigada hermanos saz

orquesta sinfnica nacional

gaita gallega en

angel luis soler

el largo camino

teatro garca lorca