Clarinet to shine at PRSO world premiere at Bellas Artes
By PEGGY ANN BLISS
Special to The STAR
It will be a toss-up as to who will be more tickled Saturday when the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra (PRSO) unveils a world premiere of 24-year-old Ema Quiñones’ concerto “Contrastes Caribenos”: soloist Andrés Maldonado, the debuting composer, the 70-year-old orchestra, its Spanish-American guest conductor or the audience itself.
With Maldonado, 33, and Quiñones both being clarinetists AND composers trained at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, it’s expected to cause quite a stir.
“This concerto, which is a blend of classical patterns and Indigenous rhythms, will be easy to enjoy because it is in the audience’s blood,” the young principal clarinetist told The STAR just minutes before going out to buy some appropriate duds for his big night.
Both musicians were students of legendary clarinetist Kathleen Jones, whose longtime principal chair was recently filled by Maldonado, who recently held the prestigious first chair in the Paris Opera Orchestra.
“This piece will require every bit of versatility and technique I can muster,” Maldonado confided in a brief chat with the STAR.
He and Quiñones have been collaborating for several years on helping build a clarinet repertoire that represents a contemporary island spirit flavored with echoes of the indigenous past.
The concert will open with French impressionist composer Maurice Ravel’s choreographic poem “La Valse” and close with German composer Johannes Brahms’ long-awaited “First Symphony,” wrìtten when he was 43.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Pau Casals Symphony Hall at Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in Santurce.
