Cuban pianist Aldo López-Gavilán will present the world premiere of his first symphonic concerto, “Emporium Concerto for Solo Piano and Orchestra,” on the opening weekend of this year’s Classical Tahoe.
July 28 | 7 p.m.
“Rhapsody in Blue” with Aldo López-Gavilán on piano
July 29 | 7 p.m.
Aldo López-Gavilán’s premiere of “Emporium for Solo Piano and Orchestra”
“I already had the experience of working together with Maestro Joel Revzen last summer during Festival Napa Valley and it was just fabulous,” says López-Gavilán. “After that experience we both thought that we needed to do it again. So he invited me to Classical Tahoe to perform George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and another piece of my own, but it had to be around 20 minutes long. I already had a few original works written for piano and orchestra, but nothing long enough to fill the request. Since I always wanted to write a piano concerto, I decided to take the opportunity to compose a new piece and here it is.”
As a child growing up in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana in the 1980s, López-Gavilán’s musical intellect was influenced by his parents, who were professional musicians.
Watch Aldo Lopez Gavilan perform “Eclypse” with the Harlem Quartet
“I was born into a musical family, so even before I was born I was already exposed to all kinds of great music,” he says. “I remember in my early adolescence I fell in love with Igor Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ and that changed my life. Also, Pat Metheny and Keith Jarrett had a very strong impact on me during that time and I still love them.”
López-Gavilán’s performance of “Rhapsody in Blue” will be dedicated to the memory of his father, George, who was a brilliant pianist and bandleader during the heyday of the Vaudeville era.
The theme of the new concerto was inspired by his hope and love for his 8-year-old twin daughters, Andrea and Adriana.
“We listen to the main themes of each of the movements knit together, again emphasizing the idea of unifying the world.” – Aldo López-Gavilán
“The first movement is based on a melody I composed as a birthday present, obviously inspired by my feelings about them,” he says. “I named it right away as ‘Emporium’ because I wanted to describe a place where you could find many different things from all over the planet. Then later I learned that this word has different meanings. I liked the fact that all meanings were linked to the spirit of the piece.”
The final two sections of the composition exhibit López-Gavilán’s affinity for merging worldwide musical genres with classical and modern jazz stylings.
“The second movement is kind of a tribute to Cuban songs from La Nueva Trova and American country music songs unified in one melodic symbol of peace and love,” says López-Gavilán. “Then right away, the third and last movement strikes with a very dynamic new theme, rhythmic and polytonal pages of music jumping and running around, recreating the first movement’s main theme with hints of Cuban modern music. In this development, we listen to the main themes of each of the movements knit together, again emphasizing the idea of unifying the world. Finally a short, but yet intense, cadenza leads to the optimistic grand finale with a majestic tutti of the theme.”
López-Gavilán takes tremendous pride and joy in sharing the authentic polyrhythms of his country intermingled with global sounds as he performs with premier symphonies around the world.
“When walking the streets of Havana, you will hear live music of all different genres from traditional folk music, songwriters’ songs, jazz, rock, hip-hop or salsa to what could be even more surprising: a big scene of classical music such as opera, choral recitals and chamber music,” he says. “There is always something going on to check out. And authentically Cuban music could be anything. While we, of course, have specific patterns and syncopated rhythms that cannot be confused, I believe that we also take a different approach toward whatever style of music we play. We always add some spices that can be clearly recognized as Cuban playing.”
Classical Tahoe features performances from July 28 to Aug. 12 at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nev. For more information or for tickets, visit classicaltahoe.org.
Check out the full lineup for Classical Tahoe
July 28 | “Made in America”
July 29 | “Firsts! A World Premiere and Brahms’ 1st”
July 30 | Family Concert “All About the Violin”
Aug. 1 | “A Fiddler’s Tale”
Aug. 4 | “What is Means to be Human”
Aug. 5 | “Mozart Onstage: The Drama of Love”
Aug. 6 | Cocktail Brunch & Chamber Concert (Nevada Museum of Art)
Aug. 8 | “Clear Night Skies”
Aug. 11 | “Passion Unbound”
Aug. 12 | “Virtuosos of Summer”
