ICA New Music Weekend 2021: Composer/Performer Collaborative Masterclass with Eric Schultz and Iván Enrique Rodríguez

Composer/Performer Collaborative Masterclass: 

Clarinetist Eric Schultz and Composer Iván Enrique Rodríguez

 

Clarinetist Eric Schultz and pianist Nathan Ben-Yehuda will perform Despojo by Iván Enrique Rodríguez. After the performance, Iván and Eric will discuss the work, collaboration, and future plans for Despojo to become a full three-movement sonata. The full sonata will appear in a future album release.

 

From the composer:

Despojo is the first movement of the soon-to-be Sonata Santería for clarinet and piano. The movement utilizes the Holandé Bomba rhythm as its genetic material throughout the whole movement. When I received the commission and was told that the concept of Identity was the focus of the project, my first instinct was to turn to our quite rich and complex Puerto Rican history. I was inspired by Santería (syncretist Caribbean religion between the Yoruba and Catholic traditions) as it speaks of how our ancestors were able to coexist and survive in a complex colonized territory. I also use the Holandé rhythm of Bomba as this musical art form has also survived in the island as a form of storytelling, protest, community, and celebration, something that keeps nourishing our Puerto Rican identity. Finally, I found the concept of the despojo particularly suitable for the commission as it is a spiritual cleanse of everything evil… don’t we all need that after 2020…

Despojo is an evocative movement that projects a rhythmically rich tradition with a spiritual touch. A movement that holds a mirror not only to the surface of our Puerto Rico, but to its heart and spirit while auguring a better tomorrow!

When: 10/17/2021 | 4:15 pm

Featuring: Eric Schultz, clarinet; Iván Enrique Rodríguez, composer

Join lecture Here