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Upcoming Performance

7/29/2020

This upcoming Saturday, August 1st, I will be talking with and performing for the COMBAS, Conservatorio de Música y Bellas Artes del Sur, in the context of their music festival, COMFEST.

We will be, along with Jean Paul Harb, discussing Sonatas and Partitas, and afterwards I will be performing Bach C minor Partita, and Beethoven op.13. You are welcome to check it out in the following link

Tema: Conversatorio/Concierto Formas: partita y sonata con Claudio Espejo "COMFEST Online" Hora: 1 ago 2020 03:00 PM Santiago
Unirse a la reunión Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85973690337?pwd=WFBIWGlpM2VjTkUvczJHQzF2SkowUT09
ID de reunión: 859 7369 0337 Código de acceso: comfest

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Recordings from a recent recital

7/23/2020

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In my blog, I want to show both my facets of teacher and performer. This is a playlist of homemade recordings that I made of a recent recital which had three works, two by Debussy and one by Ravel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWivZ5fqrxk&list=PL8oJzZiRWhsraMgfAHqrrAg2CtEXoUI6n
            The first work is Le Tombeau de Couperin, composed by Maurice Ravel, and published before the end of the first world war. I first heard this work live at Chautauqua, 2011, played by John Milbauer, and fell in love with certain movements in particular. From that time I remember especially the Prelude and the Fugue. The first movement flows like water while the second feels precious and delicate, all of it happening at a very soft dynamic level. The second time I heard these works was when a friend of mine, Orlando Diaz, played them while we both were in our undergrad, and from that time I remember his Rigaudon, as he brought to life it's humorous gestures. The last time I heard this work was by a former teacher, Matthew Bengtson. In this performance, he gave an engaging presentation of what to listen for in each movement. I remember from this time both his performance and suggested imagery for the Toccata, which was that of a focused aviator shooting at targets, during the war. On my own, I discovered the beauty of the Menuet and the Forlane.

            The second work, Pour le Piano, I fell in love with only recently, mostly because of how strange I find it. Other performances that were very inspiring were:

Mikhail Pletnev, because of slow and mysterious second movement.
Beatrice Rana’s Toccata, incredibly clear and light.
Claudio Arrau’s is probably the only recording that truly takes as much time in the first movement as it is suggested via several tempo markings.

The last work, Suite Bergamasque, I first listened to in my childhood, and two recordings have inspired me, the first by my former teacher Rebecca Penneys, and the second by Walter Gieseking. The first continues to teach me (through recordings) about color, about discovering the delight in each chord. From Gieseking’s recording, I appreciate how music can be so touching and meaningful without taking time (a habit of mine…)

This post is a bit to say that every time we play and study a work, we bring to it the sum of our experiences, and it is that richness that comes to life. Thank you to each person who inspires me, who ignites that creative bug that we all have inside.

Gratitude to the unknown instructors

What they undertook to do
They brought to pass;
All things hang like a drop of dew
Upon a blade of grass.

W.B. Yeats

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Reflection on Piano Literature and Inclusion.

7/1/2020

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I already posted the resource at the bottom of this text, but, having lived with it for a few days, I just wanted to post further thoughts on this enterprise and what it means to me.

To study at the conservatory means to become acquainted with an incredibly large catalogue of music that I can not get to in a lifetime. I have come to love that catalogue, both for the tiny parts that I already know, and for the immensity that I ignore. That catalogue, minus exceptions that can be counted in one hand, is music by white dead men.

For some time, I resisted (not consciously) becoming part of this conversation which recognizes the canon that I received as a construct which is oppressive, either from male to female/non-binary, Eurocentric to everything else, or dead to living composers. I see this resistance as an old and somewhat endearing part of me that was ordering the same three dishes at this one diner, as a ritual that created a sense of security in a world where music is already not a secure way of making a living. Having said that, I want to be defined by my curiosity rather than by my fear, and at this point I want to begin incorporating into my listening, performing, and teaching the works by people outside of that canon. I want to widen this received canon into all the directions, and to do so in conversations with colleagues and audiences.

Thanks for reading this bit about my journey and check out Annie’s resource!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aYnhfENzb2-pSQY-kzpxhpmMCC6Ob8X2y-6nUXdF720/edit?fbclid=IwAR1of7Y03QjpO-Fp-kOBe6FbHeVFFviCqErrma3VvTUao5WDRIPyt3sIPos

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Upcoming Performance

Recordings from a recent recital

Reflection on Piano Literature and Inclusion.

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