SoNA Voices: South American Creole

Wednesday\, June 23\, 2021
7:00pm
Frank Lloyd Wright Bachman Wilson House
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Through SoNA Voices\, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas celebrates the individual voices of the orchestra. With chamber music programs created by the musicians themselves\, SoNA fans can get to know the individual stars of the orchestra in a new way. The series showcases SoNA musicians’ unique visions of the vast possibilities of classical music.

For the last two SoNA Voices concerts of the Reimagined Season\, join us for an evening of creole South American musical traditions led by musicians Fernando Valencia\, Lia Uribe\, and Matt Brusca. The program will traverse physical boundaries and genres and will include a selection of Danzas\, Pasillos\, and Candombe music.

Fernando Valencia is a Percussion Instructor and the Director of the Latin American Music Ensemble at the University of Arkansas. Mr. Valencia received his B.M. from the Universidad Javeriana (Bogota\, Colombia) and his M.M. from The University of Arkansas under the guidance of Chalon Ragsdale. He later went on to Temple University to obtain the Professional Certificate of Studies with Alan Abel of The Philadelphia Orchestra. While on the East coast\, Professor Valencia was a Percussion Associate Faculty at the Settlement Music School of Philadelphia and performed with several well known latin artists such as Edgar Maldonado (Celia Cruz’s band)\, Anthony Colon and Orlando Fiol among others. He also studied Afro-Cuban drumming at the prestigious Instituto Superior de Artes in Havana\, Cuba. Some of his commercial compositions have been broadcast on television in Norway\, Finland\, UK and on VH1 channel in the US. Formerly the principal percussionist of the National Wind Symphony of Colombia\, he has also performed with The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Colombia\, Bogota Philharmonic\, Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey\, Arkansas Symphony\, Tulsa Symphony\, and currently with The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas\, Artosphere Festival Orchestra\, Arkansas Philharmonic\, Opera Fayetteville and Fayetteville Jazz Collective. He has recorded extensively in Colombia and the U.S. and has participated in Latin Grammy nominated and nationally broadcast recordings in the popular and classical arenas.

 Lia Uribe\, associate professor of bassoon at the University of Arkansas\, principal bassoonist of SoNA and APO\, and member of the Lyrique Quintette\, maintains an active career as a chamber musician/orchestral-player/artist-teacher. With international work presented in Argentina\, Colombia\, Canada\, England\, Puerto Rico\, Costa Rica\, Finland\, Peru\, Ecuador\, Germany\, Greece and Japan\, Lia has also played and taught in multiple USA venues. She is an advocate of new music and has commissioned/premiered new works for the bassoon. Her research interest is centered on Latin-American and Latinx music and composers\, in addition to inclusiveness\, representation and diversity in the arts. 

 Matt Brusca is the Percussion Specialist for Fayetteville Public Schools\, and his students have been selected for All-District and All-Region Honor Bands more than 60 times. His Percussion Ensembles have performed at the Arkansas PAS Day of Percussion\, Oklahoma PAS Day of Percussion\, MSSU World Music and Cuisine Festival\, University of Oklahoma Steel Drum Festival\, and Sun Fest. Matt’s performing experiences include playing with the Kansas City Royal Thunder Drum Line at the 2014 MLB World Series\, Chicago Bulls Stampede Drum Line\, Chicago Bears Drum Line\, and as a WGI Independent World Class Finalist with Gateway Indoor in 2008 and 2009. He has performed with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra\, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas\, Signature Symphony\, Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra\, Ozark Festival Orchestra\, Peoria Municipal Band\, and the Brass Band of Central Illinois. He has also performed for the Grumo Festival (Tesero  and Cavalese\, Italy)\, Exit Festival (Novi Sad\, Serbia)\, BELEF Festival (Belgrade\, Serbia)\, OK Mozart Festival\, Marian Days Festival\, International Double Reed Society Conference\, Kansas PAS Day of Percussion\, and NCAA Cross Country Championships.