Wednesday, November 8 | 1PM | Union Hall

35 +: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish

AARON LARGET-CAPLAN, guitar

ROBERT LEHMANN, violin

KIMBERLY LEHMANN, viola

REBECCA HARTKA, cello

We are proud to welcome back to our daytime series, violinist Robert Lehmann, Director of String Studies and Orchestral Activities at the University of Southern Maine’s Osher School of Music, "a sensitive musician with a technique up to just about anything” (Portland Press Herald). He will be joined by his wife and duo partner Kimberly Lehmann viola, a player with “considerable interpretive moxie, backed with a solid technique and rich tone" (Portand Press Herald), USM’s new cello professor Rebecca Hartka, and lauded Boston-based guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan, “a unique talent not to be missed” (Washington Post). Aaron has released 10 critically acclaimed solo records, as well as performing for wildly enthusiastic audiences and critics across the globe.

PROGRAM

The quartet will perform a program of Latin-American music for guitar and strings that explores the notion of music that dances with the ancestors.

MANUEL M. PONCE Quartet, for guitar, violin, viola, cello (1946)

NICOLAS BENAVIDES Rinconcito (2018)

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA from Histoire du Tango

Bordello 1900 (guitar/violin)

Café 1930 (guitar/viola)

Revirado (guitar/cello)

ROLAND DYENS Tango En Skai (1985)

The Midday Music Series features innovative artists and ensembles and offers a midday break in the relaxed atmosphere of Union Hall. The hour-long performances begin at 1PM. Feel free to bring your lunch! Ticket includes coffee and cookies available before the concert.

Program Notes from Performer Robert Lehmann:

As Aaron and I were exploring possibilities for some concerts together, the Latin American theme always seemed to figure prominently in our repertory ideas. I am originally from Mexico City, where I lived until I was 18 and am a fierce advocate for Mexican and Latin music and composers.

It was a happy coincidence that our concert is close to the traditional observance days of “Dia de los Muertos” and that one of our pieces, “Rinconcito” by Nicolas Benavides, has to do with this idea of music bridging the worlds of the living and the departed. Rinconcito is, in the composer’s own words; “… a meeting place for the dead and the living.” It is based on one of his favorite songs “Rinconcito en el cielo” which tells of a secret little corner in heaven where one can visit departed loved ones. He uses a series of intervals, perfect fourths and fifths, to depict the departed ancestors, and thirds and sixths to represent the living.

Manuel Ponce is known for his many works for guitar, fruits of his friendship with the famous guitarist Andres Segovia, but he also played a pivotal role in developing a National ‘profile’ for the next generation of Mexican composers who sought to reconcile the European classical tradition with the native folk and indigenous music of Mexico.

What would a Latin American program be without the iconic music of Piazzolla’s Nuevo Tango? We’ve included three selections from his seminal “Histoire du Tango.” 

-Robert Lehmann