Transcript Document

Imagine…
Imagine sitting at the first performance of extraordinary music, knowing that you
helped to drive the creative process.
Imagine this music celebrating women in Mexico—historical, contemporary,
legendary—native and foreign born.
Imagine bringing this music to audiences of all ages in Mexico, the U.S., and other
countries.
Imagine receiving grateful recognition every time this music is performed.
SONG OF THE MONARCH: WOMEN IN MEXICO
An extraordinary collection of new music for solo piano by
seventeen eminent composers from six countries,
each composition celebrating a woman in Mexico.
ANA CERVANTES, Commissioning Artist
SONG OF THE MONARCH: WOMEN IN MEXICO
Pianist Ana Cervantes named this collection of new music for the
Monarch Butterfly, a metaphor for extraordinary courage and determination
inhabiting a seemingly fragile body.
Exquisitely beautiful Monarchs are uniquely capable of 2,500 mile migrations; mysteriously,
subsequent generations find their way back to the same sanctuary in Mexico.
Ana Cervantes
“Ambassadress for Music of Mexico”
Critics praise Ana Cervantes,
Fulbright García-Robles Senior Scholar
and Yamaha Concert Artist
“A physical, emotional performer with
mastery of tone and color…”
“Commanding intensity…”
“Great interpretive qualities, and
enormous passion…”
“Ambassadress for the music of
Mexico…”
The daughter of a Mexican father and US (Nebraska) mother, Ana has a special ability to serve as an
interlocutor between cultures through her engaging performance style, imaginative programming, and her
dedication to commissioning and performing new music.
For Rumor de Páramo/Murmurs from the Wasteland (2006-7), Cervantes asked 23 composers from five
countries and three generations to create piano solos inspired by the work of Mexican proto-magic realist
author Juan Rulfo.
Inspirations of Song of the Monarch: Women in México
Las Soldaderas were women who took up
arms and went into combat alongside men
during the Mexican Revolution. La Adelita,
one of the most famous and beloved folk
songs to come out of the Revolution, is
about a soldadera of that name. The term
“La Adelita” has come to signify a woman
of strength and courage.
Born in Spain, Remedios Varo (1908-1963)
aligned herself with the Republic during the
Spanish civil war and went into exile in
Mexico. Her complex paintings integrate
the mystical into the modern secular world,
combining stylized human figures with
archetypal dream elements.
Carlota of Habsburgo (1840-1927)
The Belgian princess married the Habsburg Archduke
Maximilian of Austria and in 1864 they came to Mexico as
emperors. When Maximilian was shot by federal troops in
1867, Charlotte went mad and lived the rest of her long life
secluded in Belgium.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
(1651-1695) A precocious
child, Juana entered the
Convent of St. Jerome,
Mexico City, so that she
could dedicate herself to
letters.Her literature centered
on freedom, challenging
societal values and church
hypocrisies while the
Spanish Inquisition was
raging. Eventually, the
prelates forbade her to write.
Inspirations of Song of the Monarch: Women in México, continued

La Malinche (c.1496 or 1505 – c.1529), known also as Malintzin, Malinalli or Doña Marina was born into
a powerful Nahua family on the Gulf coast. When her father died, little Malintzin was sold into slavery and
resold later to Hernán Cortés. Discovering that she spoke Maya and Nahuatl , Cortés made her his
companion, translator and guide to the Mexica culture. She bore his son, Martin, who is considered one of
the first mestizos.
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Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) and The Blue House (La Casa Azul). Victim of an accident that left her lame,
the artist’s immobilization allowed her to explore painting in depth. She married the muralist Diego Rivera,
and lived a tumultuous story of love and passion. Her blue house was an organic part of her life: the
structure, spaces and colors of the house speak as much of Kahlo as her clothes, jewelry, and paintings.

The legend of La Llorona, part of Mexico’s collective imagination, fuses the pre-Hispanic myth of the
woman cursed to wander the night with the Colonial myth of a woman who drowns her children and later
wanders endlessly by the river looking for them. The Llorona evokes the Mexican figure of Death, the
Skull, that wanders through the world provoking terror.

María Sabina (1894-1985), a multi-talented medicine woman of the Sierra Mazateca, Oaxaca, allowed an
American banker and ethnomycologist into a healing ceremony involving the use of a regional
hallucinogenic mushroom. Suddenly, she became an international counterculture celebrity of the 1960s,
attracting youth, rock stars, and exploiters. She was disheartened by the exploitation but her chants and
poetry, using themes common to Mesoamerican spiritual traditions, endure.
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La Sandunga. Is she a woman become song? A song made woman? From the Oaxacan tradition and
rhythmically a fandango, La Sandunga turns sadness into song. The name, derived from Zapotecan Saa
(music) y Ndu (profound), signifies elegance, poise, charm, wit and celebration.
The Composers
of
SONG OF THE MONARCH: WOMEN IN MEXICO
All are internationally acclaimed.
All have received numerous honors and commissions.
Their works are in the world’s best-loved contemporary repertoire.
BRAZIL:
Silvia Berg blends tenderness and strength in her music, always with profound lyricism atop rigorous formal architecture.
COLOMBIA:
Alba Lucia Potes is a composer of a subtle yet energetic style. Her music often combines European influences with
rhythms and melodic gestures inspired by Latin-American traditional music.
EE.UU/USA:
Anne LeBaron writes ritualistic music of excitement and power.
Her works embrace an extraordinary array of subjects,
ranging from contemporary adaptations of Greek and South American myths to the legendary Pope Joan.
Joelle Wallach infuses her compositions with vivid imagery of nature and myth, creating intimate, persuasive emotional
landscapes.
Charles B. Griffin often draws on non-Western rhythms and textures to achieve gripping, hypnotic, kaleidoscopic music
for Western concert instruments.
Jack Fortner composes dramatic music, often with complex textures, of operatic impact.
The Composers, continued
ESPAÑA/SPAIN:
Tomás Marco composes profoundly expressive, deceptively simple
music of great refinement and economy of means.
Carlos Cruz de Castro is a prolific composer of energetic, generous music for an wide variety of contexts including dance.
Pilar Jurado, acclaimed opera singer, composer and conductor, she imbues her works with extraordinary emotional range.
MÉXICO:
Marcela Rodríguez, a dean of Mexican women composers, creates music with gripping use of rhythm and of silence in the
magical village of Tepoztlán outside of Mexico City.
Georgina Derbez, one of Mexico’s most active composers, creates music which is at once austere and profoundly sensual.
Gabriela Ortiz achieves an extraordinary synthesis of highly organized structure and improvisatory spontaneity to create
music that is entertaining, profound and sophisticated.
Mario Lavista, Mexico’s emeritus composer, explores beautiful, mysterious, and even mystical sonorities in his works.
Horacio Uribe, draws richly on elements of Mexican folklore to create exuberant music bursting with color.
Arturo Márquez composes music that embodies profound lyricism and passion with subtle yet powerful rhythmic impetus.
REINO UNIDO/UK:
Paul Barker Theatrical performance plays a prominent role in his music, which is “ecstatic, profound, sonorous dramatism.”
Stephen McNeff composes “achingly beautiful, heart-arresting, evocative music.” Despite a focus on opera and music for the
theater and voice, he has written important solo, chamber, and symphonic works.
“The creation of any art is, in its essence, a mystery and a miracle. For me as
an interpreter it is a privilege to be a part of this mystery by inspiring new
music.”
“To commission music is to help it come into being, to act as a sort of
midwife of musical creation.”
—Ana Cervantes
Reaching audiences...

International Cervantino Festival, Guanajuato Capital, México, October 19,
2010-- World Premier performance of selected works from Canto de la Monarca:
Mujeres en México/ Song of the Monarch: Women in Mexico.

University of Texas, Dallas, October 28, 2010-- U.S. premiere of selected works.

Leon Mexico, November, 2010-- Premiere in León.
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Concert tours of Latin America, Europe, and the U.S. throughout 2011.
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Double disc recording of Canto de la Monarca--approximately 140 minutes
total time--due for release in early 2011.
Educational programs and concerts for young audiences in major Mexican and
U.S. cities, throughout 2011.
Educational Outreach
SONG OF THE MONARCH: WOMEN IN MEXICO will provide multi-dimensional
learning opportunities for students in Mexico and the U.S. In educational concertconversations with young people, Ana Cervantes will describe the women who
inspired the music and explain the musical themes chosen by the composer to
represent each woman.
Cervantes’ educational concert-conversations with young people
will take place at museums such as:
De
Young Museum, San Francisco
Mexican Cultural Center of Chicago
Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico
Museo del Barrio, New York City
Museo del Caracol, Mexico
Museo del Papalote, Mexico
Museo Iconografico del Quijote, Gto., Mex.
The Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.
Participating in this Creative Process…

You will discover that there is nothing like sitting in a first performance and realizing
that your appreciation, your love for great, meaningful new music drove the whole
creative process.
Much of the music we love today was created through commissions, by the generosity
of patrons like Brandenburg, who is known today because of Bach’s chamber concerti.
Today, most commissions come from groups--from major symphony orchestras, opera
companies and chamber ensembles--and are financed by organizations and
governments. Very few soloists and private patrons commission works of music.
Ana Cervantes is involving not only governments and organizations as sponsors but
also individuals as patrons of Songs of the Monarch.
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You will know that you are helping to reinforce and preserve images of women who have
overcome obstacles and defined new spaces.
You will be instrumental in presenting this “Good News” story about Mexico to
multinational audiences of both sexes and all ages.
You will have participated in creating a musical legacy to future generations.
Patrons’ Gifts
The total cost of underwriting Canto de la Monarca is $75,000 US dollars. This
includes honorariums for the seventeen composers, bilingual educational materials
and various production costs.
Please join these generous Patrons of Song of the Monarch: Women In México
A.J. Buckingham
Jill Lipoti & Brad Garton
Marie Chevrier & Paul Jarkowsky
Harold & Sue Davey
Miriam de Uriarte
Rodolfo Hernández Guerrero
Fay Jones
Ruth Lindstrom
Marc Smith & Steven Lightner
Luis Yamín Martínez
Clair Ransom & Roger Thorpe
Dianne Romain & Sterling Bennett
Jean Schwarzbauer & Don Winkelmann
Marilyn & Leigh Stowell
Cynthia Wolloch & Joseph Reid
Sandra Ward & Ron Mann
Receiving grateful acknowledgment for your gift
Your name will appear, with grateful recognition, on all concert programs and in the CD liner
notes. You will also be recognized on Ana Cervantes’ website, on the page dedicated to
generous patrons.
You will receive complimentary CDs, signed by Ana Cervantes with her thanks.
In addition, for participation in the amount of $5,000 USD you will receive:
 Complimentary tickets to performances, preferred seating.
 A limited edition “Canto de la Monarca” bowl, designed by Gorky Gonzalez, the prizewinning ceramicist of international renown, recognized by the Mexican Government as an
“outstanding national treasure.”
Donations up to $5,000 USD may be made on-line via credit card
Donations may be made on line through Fractured Atlas, a U.S. non-profit (501c3) organization
that facilitates support for worthy artistic projects. These donations are tax-deductible to the
extent permitted by law. The address designated for donations to Canto de la Monarca/Song of the
Monarch is:
www.fracturedatlas.org/site/contribute/donate/3065
For more information on Fractured Atlas visit www. Fracturedatlas.org/
Visit www.cervantespiano.com to view progress toward reaching underwriting goal.
Ana Cervantes - Biography and discography
Critics praise Ana Cervantes as “a physical, emotional performer with mastery of tone and color,” as an artist
of “commanding intensity” and “great interpretive qualities, enormous passion,” and as “ambassadress for the
music of Mexico.” The daughter of a Mexican father and American (Nebraska) mother, Ana has a special ability
to serve as an interlocutor between cultures through her engaging, charismatic performance style and
imaginative programming, which pairs new works with “standards.”
As a commissioning artist, Ana Cervantes has inspired major collections of works by eminent composers. Canto
de la Monarca: Mujeres en México / Song of the Monarch: Women in Mexico is her current international
commissioning project. For Rumor de Páramo/Murmurs from the Wasteland—and the resulting CDs Rumor de
Páramo (2006) and Solo Rumores (2007)—Cervantes commissioned 23 composers from five countries and three
generations to compose a short piece for piano solo inspired by the work of great Mexican proto-magic realist
author Juan Rulfo. In 2003, Cervantes was awarded a grant from the Mexican National Fund for Culture and
the Arts and the Guanajuato State Institute of Culture to realize Agua y Piedra/Water and Stone: Recent Music
of México, a recording of music by seven Mexican composers, three of them women, and the premiere
recording of six pieces.
In 1999, as a Fulbright García-Robles Senior Scholar, Cervantes developed a repertoire of contemporary
Mexican concert music and brought it to audiences in the USA; she received an Individual Artist award from
the Bossak-Heilbrun Charitable Foundation (USA) to continue this work. Premiering music of US and Mexican
composers, Cervantes has performed at many festivals including numerous editions of the International
Cervantino Festival and the XV and XVI Festivals of New Music of La Habana. She has partnered in residency with
numerous institutions including the Organization of American States, the Catholic University of America, the
National Museum of Women in the Arts (U.S.) and the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington, D.C.
An alumna of Bard College, Cervantes has served on the artist faculty at Princeton University, at Rider
University's Westminster Conservatory, and at the Music School of the University of Guanajuato. Ana
Cervantes maintains an active schedule as a performer and teacher, internationally and in Mexico. At home in
Guanajuato City, she collaborates artistically with the chamber ensemble Ehecalli and on projects with the
Institute of Culture of the State of Guanajuato.
“Cervantes makes evident her love and her almost
symbiotic relationship with the musical soul and the
emotional content of every work.”
Eduardo Soto Millán, Proceso, Mexico.
CDs available through Amazon.com, cervantespiano.com, and classicalcds.net.