La Fontegara in Boston

La Fontegara, a leading group of ancient music in Mexico, composed of academics from the Faculty of Music, offered concerts and classes in the United States, specifically: Longy School of Music and Harvard, Bard and Massachusetts universities in Boston. In the latter, there is currently UNAM-Boston Headquarters (Center for Mexican Studies), an entity that invited university concert players to carry out these activities. Its members, María Diez Canedo, a flute of peak and traverse; Eunice Padilla, harpsichord; Rafael Sánchez Guevara, viola da gamba, and Eloy Cruz, baroque guitarist, have participated in numerous academic exchanges with institutions such as the University of Arizona, the Beijing Conservatory and City University NY. They have 30 years of uninterrupted work and have specialized in the historically informed interpretation of pieces from the 16th to 18th centuries. These interpreters use replicas of original instruments, investigate and disseminate in a special way the instrumental music of New Spain. During his visit to the United States La Fontegara had as a guest artist the flutist Mary Oleskiewicz, professor and researcher at the University of Massachusetts.

In her classes and conferences, María Diez Canedo spoke of rhetoric, the art of arguing, that is to convince and seduce the listener, in the music of the Age of Enlightenment; the relevance of the articulation and the characteristics of the flutes in European and Novohispana music. Eunice Padilla presented his research on temperaments and tunings, as well as the possibilities of the use of historical fingerings in the works of Renaissance, Baroque as Bach and romantic as Chopin and Brahms. For his part, Rafael Sánchez talked about the differences between the viola da gamba and the cello, the ornamentation and the importance of his instrument in the continuous bass, a foundational element in baroque music. Eloy Cruz participated in several classes at the Boston University School of Music, where his colleague Víctor Coelho highlighted the work he has done on the baroque guitar. He has researched in historical texts and musical traditions of Mexican and Latin American communities, unpublished elements to decipher strumming styles that reveal the unique role that the Spanish guitar plays in the Baroque and that made it the first global instrument. The Consulate General of Mexico in Boston and the Association of Mexican Students of Harvard University participated in the organization and promotion of the activities.