Found Connections
|
This article is a stub. If you can help add information to it,
please join the WRP and visit the FAQ (left sidebar) for information. |
General Info
Year: 2023
Duration:
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Unknown
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown
Movements
1. Joy & Despair
2. Spirit & Flesh
3. Ascend & Anchor
Instrumentation
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Found Connections is the result of a web of improbable connections. It started with the connection David Waybright made between potential collaborators who did not know each other. This led to a concerto-style work that draws from different performance practices in order to feature three seemingly unrelated instruments in the hands of one single artist.
And there are more connections! Three years ago, David reached out to congratulate me on being nominated for a 2020 Latin Grammy Award and to ask if I knew of multi-instrumentalist José Valentino Ruiz, his UF [University of Florida] colleague who had just won the Grammy in the same category I had been nominated for that year. For real? I thought to myself, is David calling me to brag about his colleague who beat me in the Latin Grammys? (LOL) At that time, I did not know José Valentino other than by name. Towards the end of the conversation, it became clear that David was calling to share his vision of bringing us together for some type of collaboration, one that he was not quite sure what direction it would take or whether it would even be a good fit. When the call ended, I frankly didn’t know either.
A quick online search had me dazzled by José Valentino’s one-of-a-kind versatility and by his contagious, soulful energy. Immediately, it seemed as though I had been waiting all my life to compose a work featuring an extraordinary artist like him. On the one hand, I could pay homage to our common Latino heritage and, on the other, I could channel the jazz artists who greatly influenced my understanding of music, artist like Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Steve Kujala, and others.
And so it was that David Waybright’s foresight resulted in this three-movement concerto for multi-instrumentalist and wind symphony which features José Valentino Ruiz on flute, tenor saxophone, and electric bass (yes, you read correctly). As far as I know, no other concerto of its kind exists. It is a testament to a generation of renaissance musicians who, like José Valentino, are undeterred by boundaries imposed by musical genres or instrumental techniques.
To add another layer of connectivity, this commission came to me at a time of great personal emotional upheaval, a time when I was navigating between great happiness and a profound sense of loss. In response, and as a way to heal through the creation of this concerto, I incorporated pairs of terms in the title of each movement, terms that appear to be opposites but, as I have come to experience, are in reality poles of the same continuum, terms like joy and despair, spirit and flesh, ascend and anchor. Throughout the unfolding of Found Connections, I establish links between these terms in all sorts of musical ways that I hope the listener will recognize.
I am immensely grateful for being the beneficiary of David Waybright’s vision, José Valentino Ruiz’s unmatched talent and openness to collaborating, and the University of Florida’s generosity. In all respects, Found Connections is the result of an unprecedented series of circumstances and extraordinary team effort.
- Program Note from composer
Media
None discovered thus far.
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Symphony (David Waybright, conductor; José Valentino Ruiz, multiple instruments) - 23 April 2023 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Caminantes (2019)
- El Muro (2008)
- Found Connections (2023)
- King Mangoberry (2018)
- Pataruco (1999/2019)
Resources
- Ricardo Lorenz website Accessed 20 April 2023