Música nueva

Performers

• Members of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela
• Joshua Dos Santos, Conductor
• Danilo Pérez, Piano
• Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Piano

Program

• GONZALO RUBALCABA "Pasos": Chapter One (US Premiere, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
• DANILO PÉREZ Cuentos del Mar (US Premiere, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
• ENRICO CHAPELA Acoussence (US Premiere, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
• ESTEBAN BENZECRY Sombras que guardan el secreto (US Premiere, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)

Bios

• Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela

  
  The Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (SBSOV) was founded by Dr. José Antonio Abreu and a group of fellow musicians who were inspired by the ideals of Simón Bolívar. The orchestra comprises more than 200 young musicians ages 18-28, and is the flagship of the Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar's orchestral academic program, known as El Sistema.
  
  Across Venezuela, El Sistema currently involves 400,000 beneficiaries-75 percent of whom live below the poverty line-in a system that includes more than 1,550 music groups distributed among 286 academic centers. "For the children that we work with, music is practically the only way to a dignified social destiny. Poverty means loneliness, sadness, anonymity. An orchestra means joy, motivation, teamwork, the aspiration to success," says Dr. Abreu.
  
  El Sistema allows the musicians of the SBSOV to explore demanding repertoire through master classes and concerts, involving soloists from leading orchestras and arts institutions, such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Sibelius Academy of Finland, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, and New England Conservatory. Their work with international conductors has included performances with Sir Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado, as well as working for months with Gustavo Dudamel, the orchestra's music director and a product of El Sistema.
  
  The SBSOV has toured Germany several times, and performed at the Parco della Musica in Rome, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, and Lucerne Easter Festival. In the summer of 2007, it appeared at the BBC Proms, Edinburgh Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, and Semperoper Dresden. Later that year, the SBSOV toured to Mexico, Spain, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and Carnegie Hall, where the orchestra was conducted by Mr. Dudamel and Mr. Rattle as part of the Berlin in Lights festival. In 2008, the SBSOV performed in residency at the Salzburg Festival and made its Asian debut with concerts in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hiroshima. The following year, the orchestra made its Canadian debut to celebrate the awarding of the Glenn Gould Prize to Dr. Abreu.
  
  Appearances in 2010 included a residency at the Lucerne Festival, a major European tour, and a Latin American tour to mark the bicentennial of the region's independence. Between January and February 2012, the SBSOV participated in a three-week residency at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, alternating with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in performances of Mahler's nine symphonies as part of The Mahler Project led by Mr. Dudamel. This program culminated in Caracas, with concerts by both orchestras at the Teatro Teresa Carreño. In June and July, the SBSOV performed at Stirling Castle in Scotland as part of the Cultural Olympiad, framed within the celebration of the London Olympics.

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• Joshua Dos Santos

  
  After his international debut with Venezuela's Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in The Mahler Project with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a part of the Dudamel Fellowship Program, Joshua Dos Santos has emerged as one of Venezuela's most internationally renowned young conductors.
  
  Known for his versatility and experience on the podium, Mr. Dos Santos has developed his musical skills within Venezuela's El Sistema program. He made his debut at the age of 15, conducting Mascagni's opera Cavalleria rusticana. He is a pupil of Dr. José Antonio Abreu, and has also studied at the State Foundation for the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela with Mario Benzecry, Sung Kwak, Eduardo Marturet, and Gustavo Dudamel.
  
  Mr. Dos Santos conducted the Vargas Youth Orchestra (2001-2002) and was a founding conductor of the Carabobo Symphony Youth Orchestra (2002-2009).
  
  Between 2010 and 2011, Mr. Dos Santos went on tour throughout Venezuela, including Caracas, where he conducted new Latin American compositions during the 16th Latin American Music Festival with Venezuela's Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. He has a deep command of contemporary repertoire, and regularly conducts Venezuelan and Latin American musical works as a way to promote them to a wider audience.
  
  In 2012, Mr. Dos Santos started working with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the guidance of Charles Dutoit, Neeme Järvi, Pablo Heras-Casado, and Gustavo Dudamel. He was also an assistant conductor during Dudamel's recent European tour with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.

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• Danilo Pérez

  
  The extraordinary Panamanian pianist and composer Danilo Pérez is among the most influential and dynamic musicians of our time. In just over a decade, his distinctive blend of Pan-American jazz has attracted critical acclaim and loyal audiences. Pérez's abundant talents and joyous enthusiasm make his concerts both memorable and inspiring. Whether leading his own ensembles or touring with renowned jazz masters (such as Wayne Shorter, Roy Haynes, and Steve Lacy), Pérez is making a decidedly fresh imprint on contemporary music, guided, as always, by his love for jazz.
  
  Born in Panama in 1965, Pérez started his musical studies at just three years of age with his father, a bandleader and singer. By age 10, he was studying the European classical piano repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama. After receiving his bachelor's degree in electronics, he moved to the US, where he first enrolled at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and later transferred to the Berklee College of Music. While completing his studies in jazz composition, he performed with Jon Hendricks, Terence Blanchard, Claudio Roditi, and Paquito D'Rivera. Since the late 1980s, he has appeared with Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Tito Puente, Wynton Marsalis, John Patitucci, Tom Harrell, and Gary Burton. He also produced the critically acclaimed Reunion album that featured D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval, and later appeared on Sandoval's Grammy-winning Danzón.
  
  Pérez is a UNESCO Artist for Peace, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, cultural ambassador of his native Panama, president and founder of the Panama Jazz Festival, artistic advisor of the innovative Mellon Jazz Up Close series at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and faculty member of both the New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music.

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• Gonzalo Rubalcaba

  
  Gonzalo Rubalcaba was born in post-revolutionary Havana in 1963. During his childhood, he absorbed the Cuban musical heritage through personal contacts within his family-notably his father, pianist Guillermo Rubalcaba, and his two brothers-as well as from leading musicians who were frequent visitors, including Frank Emilio, Peruchin, and Felipe Dulzaides. Through scarce and treasured recordings, he assimilated the tunes and styles of US jazz masters Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, Charlie "Bird" Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey. Despite the diversity of his background, his initial formal musical training was entirely classical.
  
  By the time he graduated from Havana's Institute of Fine Arts in 1983, he was already playing in clubs and music halls. He toured with Orquesta Aragón in 1980 and introduced his own Grupo Proyecto to the North Sea and Berlin festivals in 1985. Further works earned him a Latin Grammy for Jazz Album of the Year (Supernova), as well as a Grammy for co-production with Charlie Haden (Nocturne). To his credit, he now has 15 Grammy nominations.
  
  Rubalcaba has performed with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Ignacio Berroa, Chick Corea, Al Di Meola, Herbie Hancock, Richard Galliano, Francisco Céspedes, Tony Martinez, Issac Delgado, Juan Luis Guerra, Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Eric Harland, Dennis Chambers, Brian Bromberg, Ron Carter, Yosvany Terry, Matt Brewer, Mike Rodríguez, Marcus Gilmore, Pat Martino, Giovanni Hidalgo, John Patitucci, Jack DeJohnette, João Bosco, Eric Harland, and Ivan Linz.
  
  Rubalcaba continues to tour the world as a solo pianist in jazz and classical settings, while also being a bandleader. His repertoire continues to expand beyond straight-ahead, bop, Afro-Cuban, and other forms of jazz into the worlds of traditional Cuban and Mexican ballads, boleros, and Cuban classical works. Rubalcaba has developed his own distinctive voice, challenging traditional musical classifications of the day.

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