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Sol y Canto

Programs Offered

In their first-ever commission of Latin music, FleetBoston Celebrity Series sponsored Sol y Canto’s musical director and guitarist, Brian Amador, to compose a Latin suite entitled “Prisma de amores” for Sol y Canto and orchestra.  Thirty four members of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project were selected to perform with the band for the world premiere of the work on Friday, November 16th at 8pm for the audience of 1000 at the historic Sanders Theater in Cambridge, MA.  Brian Amador, recipient of a 1995 Massachusetts Cultural Council artist grant for musical composition, penned “Prisma de amores” with the aim of taking Sol y Canto’s popular pan-Latin style into new sonic territories.  Unlike many collaborations between popular and symphonic ensembles in which orchestral arrangements are added to already-existing songs, this piece was composed specifically for this performance.  Orchestral colors, textures and effects are woven into traditional styles such as son, bolero, danzón, cha cha cha, bomba and tango in a surprising and powerful meditation on the many facets of love.  Since the debut, the suite has been performed again in collaboration with the Whitewater Symphony Orchestra of Wisconsin at Young Auditorium as well as with a string quartet of top Boston instrumentalists in the Boston area. Further collaborations with symphony orchestras will be announced as they are confirmed.

Our PERFORMANCE/WORKSHOP on the Roots of Latin American Music is particularly popular in the university/college setting or can be offered to community audiences interested in having closer contact with the artists.  It combines performance and a lecture with participation by audience members.  Band members introduce participants to the three main cultural influences in Latin music: the indigenous, African and European, showcasing how each of these is manifested in our song forms, instruments and melodies.  Participants are invited to join the musicians on percussion instruments or could be taught how to dance basic Latin dance rhythms such as the Dominican merengue, Caribbean salsa or Colombian cumbia.

In our WORKSHOP ON LATIN RHYTMS FOR MUSIC EDUCATORS/MUSIC STUDENTS Rosi and Brian Amador introduce workshop participants to a variety of musical rhythms from Latin America, illustrating how the primary cultural influences in Latin music are manifested. Live musical examples and those drawn from recordings serve to explore the differences between the European (particularly the Spanish), the African and the indigenous roots of Latin music. The presentation is participatory in nature, teaching participants new concepts by engaging them in exercises. for example, participants can expect to be exposed to flamenco rhythms played on the guitar by presenter Bran Amador and asked to clap out the 12-beat rhythm typical of this genre; learn the three predominant Cuban claves as well as accompanying percussion patterns; and, time permitting be taught basic dance steps of 3-4 different Latin dance rhythms by Rosi and Brian. More musicians from Sol y Canto can participate, if desirable.

  The FAMILY SHOW: A LATIN AMERICAN MUSICAL JOURNEY features selections from Sol y Canto’s celebratory 2003 bilingual CD for children and their families, including songs appropriate for children ages 3 and up.   A combination of original songs and renowned traditional Latin American children’s songs, the repertoire includes “La fiesta del tren” -the train party, “Twice as many Friends”-El doble de amigos celebrates bilingualism, and “A Volar Cometas” -”Go Fly a Kite” which invites body motion as well as singing.  A bilingual adaptation of the ever-popular children's song  "Under One Sky" gets the audience to sing along in both Spanish and English, and culminates with an invitation to make silly animal sounds.  "Mi cuerpo hace música" (My Body Makes Music) is a children's song that invites children and parents to stand up and make music with their bodies while singing along.  A brief explanation of the rhythm’s roots, highlighting the Spanish, African and indigenous influences, as well as an explanation of the unusual traditional instruments used by the band members rounds out this fun and partici-patory presentation suitable for all ages.  The show can be presented as a duo, a trio or a sextet.

This same program is modified to be presented as one appropriate for YOUNG AUDIENCES in an educational setting. On this guided musical tour through Latin America, artists use the Spanish guitar; traditional instruments from South America including: the quena (bamboo flute); and from the Caribbean, including the Puerto Rican pleneras  (hand drums),  bongos (has large and small drums) as well as an assortment of small percussion instruments.  If the entire Sol y Canto quintet or sextet is participating in the show, the instruments described above are combined with congas, keyboard, accordion, saxophone, flute and electric or acoustic bass.   Time is reserved for questions and answers.

RESIDENCIES involve a combination of the above plus master classes drawing from the expertise of Sol y Canto's musicians, from Afro-Latin percussion workshops, to composition and latin dancing tutorials.

*Photo credit must accompany all uses of these copyrighted images by Susan Wilson
Photo credit: Susan Wilson
www.susanwilsonphoto.com

To book Sol y Canto for your event just call us at (617) 492-1515, or use our online contact form.