Diaspora Duo Brings Folkloric Music to Modern Audiences

August 23, 2013
Diaspora Duo

photo courtesy of Diaspora Duo

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Media contact: Terry Goodrich, (254) 710-3321
WACO, Texas (Aug. 23, 2013) - Venezuelan group Diaspora Duo, with pianist Alfredo Ovalles and violinist Raúl Suárez, will present a guest recital at Baylor University at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 27 in Roxy Grove Hall, 624 Speight Ave. Their program is entitled "Roots: Folk Music After the Twentieth Century."
Building on the foundations of Venezuela's classical music movement and both American and European conservatory traditions, Diaspora combines the best of these worlds with the addition of Latin, jazz, pop, folk and rock influences.
With a focus on the performance of new works and pieces from the standard repertoire, Diaspora concerts are filled with an eclectic mix of music, designed to be a collaboration between performers and audience.
The duo's program will include Béla Bartók's Rhapsody No. 1, Gabriela Lena Frank's "Sueños de Chambi: Snapshots for an Andean Album," Esteban Benzecry's "Rapsodia Andina," Fazil Say's the "Violin Sonata" and Paul Desenne's four-movement "Venezuelan Suite."
Performing together since 2007, the members of Diaspora Duo have given Venezuelan premieres of works by André Previn, Alfred Schnittke, Fazil Say, György Kurtág and Keith Jarrett, among others. In 2011 Ovalles received a dual Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano from Baylor University, where he was taught by Artist-in-Residence Krassimira Jordan.
This recital is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Baylor University School of Music at 254-710-3991.
by Rachel Miller, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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