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Guitarist Sharon Isbin is back at it again with her latest album, Romantico, featuring her performing with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s led by Enrique Lopez-Yañez in music written by composer Karen LeFrak. The playlist includes LeFrak’s Latin Dance-inspired Miami Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra with Isbin and full orchestra as well as two stand-alone chamber pieces by the composer: “Habañera Nights” and “Urban Tango.”
Isbin describes LeFrak as a “Renaissance woman” who has had 18 albums for piano thus far and is an author of children’s books. Her music in the orchestral world includes works that bring children into the orchestral fold with pieces that celebrate the different instruments of the orchestra in a fun learning experience. LeFrak lives in both New York and Miami and brings both influences to her music. Last but not least, LeFrak is also a world-renowned dog breeder––poodles to be specific!
LeFrak’s Miami Concerto starts out very lyrically in the first movement “Bailamos” with a sunset painted by the orchestral winds followed by the invitation to dance, punctuated by all sorts of Latin percussion. The second movement “Romantico” is a tango, where LeFrak evokes a calm wind on a seashore with the beauty of lush strings and guitar embellishments. The final movement “Festivo” is modeled after Benbé music, which brings together Afro-Cuban cultures in a way that is both rhythmic and exciting.
Stand alone piece, “Habañera Nights,” is a chamber work where Isbin is joined by friends including the New York Philharmonic’s Carter Brey on Cello and Javier Diaz on the Bongos as well as other friends. Isbin quotes LeFrak’s program notes to describe the piece saying, “An atmosphere of the laid-back sensual energy of a couple dancing under a humid-moonlit evening.” Finally, Isbin says of “Urban Tango,” “She takes the idea of a tango and really turns it on its head,” and says the piece is, “evocative of both New York and Miami.”
Take a listen to her interview with Classical Music’s Matt Jackfert!
Playlist:
Miami Concerto for Guitar & Orchestra (World Premiere Recording)
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In 2020, the U.S. Navy commissioned a new aircraft carrier, CVN-81, and chose to name it after Doris "Dorie" Miller, but stories have surfaced recently of discussions about renaming it after President Donald Trump.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsAppalachians have always made use of the region’s wide variety of plants. A new book, called Appalachian Plants: In the Garden, In the Yard, and In the Wild, explores some of the history and lore of regional staples. It’s written by Linda Hager Pack and illustrated by Pat Banks. Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with them.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsThis week, in author Willie Carver, Jr.’s new book, he reconsiders a negative childhood experience with a neighborhood girl who might have just been looking for a friend. Also, a southwestern Virginia community rang the alarm after more and more of its children were diagnosed with cancer. A local journalist is trying to unravel the cause. And, the city of Asheville has a new crusading reporter. He’s a puppet.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsLydia Hamessley is a professor of music at Hamilton College in New York and the author of "Unlikely Angel, The Songs of Dolly Parton." She spent nearly a decade researching Dolly's music catalog. Inside Appalachia Associate Producer Abby Neff talked with Hamessley.
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