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University of California at Riverside Presents "Festival Joaquín Rodrigo"

Apr. 18, 2023

The Center for Iberian and Latin American Music at The University of California at Riverside presents "Festival Joaquín Rodrigo," a scholarly and artistic celebration of Joaquín Rodrigo's life and works, on April 26 and May 3-4, 2023 in Riverside, California.

On April 26, pianist Mac McClure will appear on the noontime Florence Bayz series to present "Visions of Spain: Piano Works by Joaquín Rodrigo, Frank Marshall, and Isaac Albéniz." This is the opening event of the Festival Joaquín Rodrigo, honoring the legacy of the great Spanish composer. Mac McClure is Associate Professor of piano at National University in Bogotá, Colombia.

The Festival Rodrigo continues on May 3 with a presentation entitled "Joaquín Rodrigo and Friends: In Words and Music." This event will feature the composer’s daughter, Cecilia Rodrigo, and her grandson, Santiago de Rábago León, reading passages from the maestro’s voluminous writings. After each brief reading, Spanish piano virtuosa Ana Benavides will play a piece that is relevant to the text. Music will include works not only by Rodrigo but also Joaquín Turina and Manuel de Falla. Ceclia Rodrigo is President of the Fundación Victoria y Joaquín Rodrigo in Madrid, and Dr. Benavides is a Distinguished Professor of Piano at the Real Conservatorio in Madrid and currently in residence at UCR as a Visiting Scholar.

The following day renowned Rodrigo scholar Javier Suárez-Pajares will present this year’s Angelita Romero Distinguished Lecture on Spanish Music and Culture with a paper entitled "History as Inspiration in the Life and Music of Joaquín Rodrigo." Dr. Suárez-Pajares is Distinguished Professor of Musicology at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. Later, pianist Ana Benavides and guitarist Pepe Romero will present a recital of solo works for piano and guitar, concluding with an arrangement of Rodrigo’s guitar concerto Fantasía para un gentilhombre. The composer’s daughter, Cecilia Rodrigo, will give a brief pre-concert lecture exploring the blind composer’s unique process of composition.


Pepe Romero, guitar and Orquesta Filarmonica de la UNAM, led by conductor Manuel Goldof,
perform Joaquín Rodrigo's Fantasía para un gentilhombre

To learn more about the "Festival Joaquín Rodrigo" and the Center for Iberian and Latin American Music at The University of California at Riverside, visit: https://cilam.ucr.edu/

To learn more about Joaquín Rodrigo, visit joaquin-rodrigo.com and schott-music.com. 

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