Conversiones by Juan Trigos | World Premiere Watch Party
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to premiere one of my doctoral project commissions at the 2020 College Music Society Conference in Flagstaff, AZ. While several performers and presenters were unable to attend due to travel restrictions, I decided to move forward with the conference knowing that it might be my only chance to premiere this piece for the foreseeable future. Although the audience was small, it was an honor to finally perform a piece that has been very close to my heart these last few months.
'Conversiones', written by Juan Trigos is dedicated to the victims of the El Paso, TX shooting from August 2019--a tragedy that immensely impacted me and my beloved hometown. Each of the five movements showcases the use of prepared piano and Abstract Folklore, a compositional technique that Trigos has used to shape music as his own over the course of his career.
Planning ahead, I'm thrilled to be releasing studio recordings of this work that will be accompanied by two other new commissions by Mexican composers Hilda Paredes and Victor Ibarra. In the meantime, I look forward to sharing video from the premiere performance in the days ahead.
To those 'attending' this event, the YouTube link has been shared below and scheduled to premiere at 12pm (MST), Saturday, April 11th. After the video airs, I'll be hosting a Q&A discussion via Zoom at 1pm (MST) for anyone who wants to join. Hope to see then!
YouTube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NOtvP65R74
Zoom Link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/814831102
Meeting ID: 814-831-102
Stay home, be safe, and take care,
Vince
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CONVERSIONES by Juan Trigos
World Premiere
I. Conversiones
II. Evocación
III. Scherzo
IV. Elegía
V. Ecos
Vince Dominguez, clarinet
Dr. Olga Kim, piano
After the search for his own expressive language and the accumulation of his artistic experiences, which include the assimilation and abstraction of his own cultural background that emerges from several origins, Juan Trigos came to the creation of the concept he refers to as Abstract Folklore. Some of the principles behind this concept are elements such as primary pulsation, resonance and the interrelation of polyrhythmic/polyphonic musical events and segments of different density and duration. The procedures and codes that emerge from this musical conception serve to transform and manipulate original timbres in order to create nuances from the original voice.
"Conversiones, meaning Conversions is a tribute to the victims of El Paso, Texas, tragically fallen in August 2019. It is not a programmatic or descriptive work, but a composition that in the abstract aims to express the feeling of loss. It is a kind of mournful singing with multiple nuances and transformations that evoke this feeling. It is built from a small musical segment of few bars (subjective sound image), which contains the main formant elements. Conversiones consists of five movements (Conversiones, Evocación, Scherzo, Elegía, and Ecos) and in each one, the elaboration process is unalike. All of them contain characteristic differences that distinguish them from one another and in turn, similarities that serve to give unity to the general form of the work."
-Juan Trigos, 2020