Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts presents Fernando Otero Quartet on Saturday April 14
Fernando Otero Quartet
Concert on Saturday April 14 to feature ensemble with bassist Pablo Aslan,
violinist Gabrielle Fink, and cellist Adam Fisher
Middletown, Conn.— The 37th annual Crowell Concert Series presented by Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts and Music Department concludes with a performance by the Fernando Otero Quartet on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 8pm in Crowell Concert Hall located at 50 Wyllys Avenue on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown. Argentine composer and pianist Fernando Otero evokes the tango sounds of Buenos Aires with his rhythmically vibrant works. Mr. Otero, who also plays the melodica, won a Latin Grammy Award for "Best Classical Album" for Vital (2010). His quartet features Pablo Aslan on acoustic bass, violinist Gabrielle Fink, and cellist Adam Fisher.
The New York Times has said that "the expressive drama of tango animates his compositions, which also involve aspects of classical chamber music and jazz improvisation." The program at Wesleyan will feature the following works by Mr. Otero: Pagina de Buenos Aires, Morrison Sonata for Solo Violin, Globalizacion, Aftermath for Solo Cello, Arbolitos, Piringundin, La Abundancia, Union, Siderata, Preludio 19, Milonga 10, Lejana, Aguaribay, La Vista Gorda, Manifestacion, and De Ahora en Mas. Click here to watch a preview video of the opening work, Pagina de Buenos Aires, by Fernando Otero on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipmfdc2YyJU&list=UUDOTG6N7UG0zMVpKOKNFXmA&index=7&feature=plcp
Mr. Otero has collaborated with one-time Bill Evans sideman Eddie Gomez, flautist Dave Valentin and pianist/film composer Dave Grusin, among others. He has sat in with Arturo O’Farrill’s Jazz Orchestra during their Sunday night residency at New York City’s Birdland, performing his compositions with the large jazz ensemble at Lincoln Center and Symphony Space. Mr. Otero recently joined clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera on stage at Birdland, Blue Note, and the Caramoor Festival, and in the studio for the recording of the Grammy Award-winning album Funk Tango (2007). The always adventurous Kronos Quartet commissioned a piece from Mr. Otero, which was premiered at Carnegie Hall in February 2008, a piece in one movement called The Cherry Tree. For more information about Fernando Otero, please visit www.fernandootero.com
There will be a lecture/demonstration with the Fernando Otero Quartet on Saturday April 14 at 3:30pm in the Daltry Room (Music Rehearsal Hall 003), accessible through the Rehearsal Hall located at 60 Wyllys Avenue on the Wesleyan campus.
There will be a pre-concert talk at 7:15pm by Wesleyan Professor of Music Neely Bruce.
This performance by the Fernando Otero Quartet is presented Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts and Music Department, and is co-sponsored by the Latin American Studies Program. La Voz Hispana is a media sponsor for this performance.
Tickets for the performances are $22 for the general public; $18 for senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff, and non-Wesleyan students; and $6 for Wesleyan students. Tickets are available online at http://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa, by phone at (860) 685-3355, or in person at the Wesleyan University Box Office, located in the Usdan University Center, 45 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. Tickets may also be purchased at the door beginning one hour prior to the performance, subject to availability. The Center for the Arts accepts cash, checks written to “Wesleyan University”, and all major credit cards. Groups of ten or more may receive a discount – please call (860) 685-3355 for details. No refunds, cancellations, or exchanges.
About the Crowell Concert Series
The Crowell Concert Series at the Center for the Arts features a wide array of world-class musicians. Past artists that have performed on the Crowell Concert Series include Afro-Cuban All-Stars,
Amelia Piano Trio, American Brass Quintet, AnDa Union, Anonymous 4, Ahmad Jamal, Balfa Toujours, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bill Frisell Trio, Boston Chamber Music Society, Bulgarian Bebop, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Charles Lloyd Quartet, Cherish the Ladies, Claude Frank, Crooked Still, David Krakauer & Klezmer Madness, Don Byron: Jungle Music for Postmoderns, Donald Berman: Celebrating Chopin’s 200th Birthday, Dünya, Eddie Palmieri, eighth blackbird, Eileen Ivers, Entrequatre, Ernest Dawkins, Eugenia Leon, FleytMuzik, FLUX Quartet, Henry Threadgill, Joshua Roman, Kronos Quartet, Le Vent du Nord, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, Lionel Loueke Trio, Lionheart, Margaret Leng Tan, Maya Beiser & Anthony de Mare, Midori, Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, Near Eastern Music Ensemble, Omar Sosa, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Otis Taylor, Parthenia, Paul Brady, Pedro Carboné, Peter Serkin, Randy Weston, Regina Carter Quintet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, San Jose Taiko, sfSoundGroup, Shanghai Quartet, Stanley Cowell Quartet, The American Piano, The Assad Brothers, The Baltimore Consort, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Drepung Loseling Monastery, Thomas Mapfumo/Blacks Unlimited, Tiempo Libre, Tokyo String Quartet, Toumani Diabate,
Trio Globo, Turtle Island String Quartet with Stefon Harris, and Zakir Hussain & L. Shankar.
About the Performing Arts Series
The Performing Arts Series at the Center for the Arts brings a wide array of world-class musicians, cutting-edge choreography, and groundbreaking theater performances and discussions to Wesleyan University. This season's performances include the 11th annual Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra Weekend featuring the Jay Hoggard Quartet (April 28). For more information, please visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.
About the Music Department
The Wesleyan University Music Department provides a unique and pioneering environment for advanced exploration committed to the study, performance, and composition of music from a perspective that recognizes and engages the breadth and diversity of the world's musics and technologies. As an integral part of one of the nation's leading liberal arts institutions, the department has enjoyed an international reputation for innovation and excellence, attracting students from around the globe since the inception of its visionary program in World Music four decades ago.
Recent annual music festivals in partnership with the Center for the Arts have brought to campus a diverse array of artists, including Max Roach, Pete Seeger, Boukman Eksperyans (Haiti), and Boogsie Sharpe (Trinidad).
A recording studio, a computer and experimental music studio, the Center for the Arts media lab and digital video facility, the World Instrument Collection (which includes the David Tudor Collection of electronic musical instruments and instrumentation) and the Scores and Recordings Collection of Olin Library (which includes the World Music Archives) offer many learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
For more information about the Music Department, please visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/music/.