The SOU Music Department is pleased to present guest artist Joel Alberto Garza, percussion in a unique evening of speaking percussion and storytelling based on the book by Nobel Laureate Juan Ramón Jiménez "Platero y yo" on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 7:30pm at the SOU Music Recital Hall. Music composed by Italian composer by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
Tickets: https://sou.universitytickets.com  Use this coupon code to get a big discount on this very special concert! Code: PLATERO

$15 general admission, $10 seniors. Free for SOU Faculty, Staff, and Students. All school aged students any school are FREE.

Free livestream: https://youtube.com/live/3RKS32XR0S4?feature=share

Program translations will be offered in English and Spanish, the concert itself will be percussion and spoken Spanish with English introductions and projected big screen subtitles and will last about an hour. 

PROGRAM

Platero y yo para el percusionista-narrador (for speaking percussionist)

by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Juan Ramón Jiménez, narrative, arr. Joel Alberto Garza                                                                
I. Platero
V. El Pozo / The Well
IX. La Luna / The Moon
XVIII. La Arrulladora / Lullaby
XXI. La Muerte / Death
VII. Melancolia

Zacatecas Sin Mecate (2021) by  Joel Alberto Garza                                         

ABOUT THE CONCERT: This is a concert of musical storytelling that will be a set of arrangements for the speaking percussionist based on the prose poem written by Nobel Laureate Juan Ramón Jiménez. The story is about a silver haired donkey name Platero and his owner. The inspirational poem was written in 1914, and themes of nature, death, empathy, and love will be explored. The original music that these arrangements are derived from are that of Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's 1960 melologue for guitar and narrator Platero y yo, Op. 190.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: 

Growing up between South Texas and Northern Mexico, Joel Alberto Garza’s creative output reflects that of both Western and Chicano culture. His works and compositions range from orchestral, chamber, and Latin percussion to theater and spoken word. He has been featured as a soloist with groups such the Salem Pops Orchestra, the University of South Florida Percussion Ensemble, as well as collaborated with and performed alongside artists such as QUITAPENAS and Shara Nova (of My Brightest Diamond).

Most recently, Joel began releasing his set of 13 percussion arrangements “Platero y yo for speaking percussionist,” which he introduced selections from on the 2020 and 2021 PASIC New Music/Research showcases. Joel also presented a lecture on music for percussion and voice for PASIC’s 2023 Scholarly Research Session and again performed for the 2024 PASIC
New Music/Research concert as a part of the collective Garza von Kampen and the WOU-USF Percussion Group. This past summer, Garza presented his speaking percussion works during a guest artist residency in Panama City, Panama at the University of Panama.

Joel is the co-founder and former director of the new music collective Cincinnati New Music, as well as the Latin Ensemble CinciSon. Currently based in Oregon, Joel is the Assistant Professor of Percussion at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR, where he directs the Wolfpack Percussion Studio, the WOU Drumline and Band, as well as the WOU Mariachi Ensemble, Mariachi Lobos del Poniente.

Joel received his Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music with degree specializations in percussion performance and composition, as well as a BM from Sam Houston State University.