Through thematic programming surrounding Explorations concerts, the North Carolina Symphony works to increase awareness of how music, art and literature can provide a tool for examining culture more deeply.

This symphonic project, partially funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, explores Aaron Copland’s transformative experiences in Mexico as well as the music of the brilliant Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. Copland’s work captures the spirit and feel of Mexico, and Revueltas’ music, combined with the film Redes, makes for an unforgettable exploration of Mexican folk culture.

EXPLORATIONS:

See the complete schedule inside!“Copland in Mexico” concerts are part of the

2014/15 Raleigh Classical Series.

Series Partners

In the early 1930s, just as Aaron Copland became drawn into the Popular Front — a coalition of leftist intellectuals and artists — he became fascinated with Mexican culture. After hearing Mexican music in New York, Copland paid a visit to the country in 1932 and attended the famed dance club El Salón México, accompanied by his friend Carlos Chávez. He saw in Mexico “something fresh and pure and wholesome — a quality of which is deeply unconventionalized.” Copland’s attitude was part of a pan-American movement of the early ‘30s, one driven by progressives who saw in Latin American countries an unspoiled alternative to Western industrial societies.

Though overshadowed by his contemporary Carlos Chávez, Silvestre Revueltas was a major musical voice in Mexico as both composer and conductor. Well-traveled — he studied in Austin and Chicago, played violin in San Antonio and conducted in Alabama — Revueltas was little known outside of Mexico City until a 1940 recording of Sensemayá brought him to fame. A fervent Mexican nationalist, Revueltas also represented a model for Copland in his match of musical populism and leftist politics.

Inspired by the epic, Soviet-sponsored films of Sergei Eisenstein, the Mexican government approved a program in 1933 to create socially oriented films that would offer a critical vision of Mexico and an alternative to commercial cinema. Despite political setbacks, the program produced the 1936 Redes (Nets), directed by American photographer Paul Strand, a quasi-documentary about fishermen on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. At the time a government official, Chávez had invited Strand to Mexico to shoot the film and had intended to compose the music himself. But when a new government came in power, Chávez lost his position, and Revueltas was recruited to write the score.

– William Robin, North Carolina Symphony Scholar-in-Residence

in MexicoCOPLAND

To learn more, go to ncsymphony.org/copland

EXPLORATIONS:

MON, OCT 27, 20147:30PMQUAIL RIDGE BOOKS & MUSIC, RALEIGH

North Carolina Symphony Scholar-in-Residence William Robin will speak on “Copland in Mexico.” His talk is part of the Local Arts Series, presented in partnership with Quail Ridge Books & Music and WCPE 89.7FM.

THUR, NOV 6, 2014OPEN REHEARSAL | 2-4PMMEYMANDI CONCERT HALL, RALEIGHGrant Llewellyn, conductor Matthew Bulluck, actor Mary Irwin, narrator

Copland: Buckaroo Holiday from RodeoCopland: El Salón MéxicoRevueltas: Son and Duelo from Homenaje A Federico Garcia LorcaRevueltas: SensemayáRevueltas: Redes (with film)

FRI/SAT, NOV 7-8, 2014PRE-CONCERT EVENT | 7PMSWALIN LOBBY, MEYMANDI CONCERT HALL, RALEIGH

“Copland in Mexico” creator Joseph Horowitz and actors Mary Irwin and Matthew Bulluck will perform excerpts from Aaron Copland’s 1953 testimony before a committee chaired by Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

PERFORMANCE | 8PMMEYMANDI CONCERT HALL, RALEIGHGrant Llewellyn, conductorMatthew Bulluck, actorMary Irwin, narrator

Copland: Buckaroo Holiday from RodeoCopland: El Salón MéxicoRevueltas: Son and Duelo from Homenaje A Federico Garcia LorcaRevueltas: SensemayáRevueltas: Redes (with film)

in MexicoCOPLAND

TUES, NOV 4, 2014ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION | 3-4:30PM RICHARD WHITE AUDITORIUM, DUKE EAST CAMPUS, DURHAM

Music Director Grant Llewellyn, “Copland in Mexico” creator Joseph Horowitz and Duke’s N.C. Latin American Film Festival Director Dr. Miguel Rojas Sotelo will participate in a roundtable discussion about how the Copland project came to be, and the importance of examining culture through music.

FREE!

To purchase concert tickets, go to ncsymphony.org or call 919.733.2750 or 877.627.6724.

FREE!