“Amazonita” is musically grounded in the cultural traditions of Peru, Colombia, and Brazil - countries that touch the Amazon River and surround the Amazon rainforest. Struck by these natural wonders, the program revels in the awe and beauty of the Earth and ancestral societies, and contemplates how modernity interacts with them.
In Milagros (Miracles), Gabriela Lena Frank imagines a visit to her mother’s native Peru and the “little miracles” she encounters along the way, from artifacts of long-gone indigenous civilizations, to the breathtaking vision of Lake Titicaca. Composed and recorded in 1972, Jacqueline Nova’s Creation of the Earth modifies recordings of creation chants of the U’wa peoples of Northeastern Colombia. The soundworld is both beautiful and terrifying, graphically depicting the ways technology and modernity can impact language, traditions, and human culture. Inspired by Bach and Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist Paulinho Nogueira’s painfully lyrical Bachianinhas Nos. 1 and 2 follow in response. Brazilian-American composer Clarice Assad's energetic Obrigado loosely follows the arc of a traditional Umbanda religious ceremony drawing on Afro-Brazilian Umbanda religious chants and dances and ending with a "powerful message of gratitude for the gift of life."

Musical Program:
Gabriela Lena Frank | Milagros
Jacqueline Nova | Creación de la Tierra
Paulinho Nogueira | Bachianinhas No. 1 & 2 (arranged by A Far Cry)
Clarice Assad | Obrigado for Mandolin and String Quartet