Venezuela: Claudia Calderón and El Piano Llanero

On Thursday night the audience at the CAF Cultural Center will enjoy the mastery of Colombian musician Claudia Calderón who will give a piano recital in the auditorium of the multilateral organization.

Claudia Calderón will present her Piano Llanero group with a concert in the Antonio José de Sucre Auditorium at the headquarters of the Andean Development Corporation, CAF, next Thursday, February 17 at 7 pm.

As the Colombian-Venezuela pianist and composer herself says, piano llanero is a proposal that seeks new interpretations of the musical traditions of the joropo (folk dance) and related genres from Venezuela and its neighbors Colombia and Ecuador. The music of the different types of harps and mandolins of Venezuela and Colombia are the essence of this virtuoso work. "Our deepest wish is to be able to journey through all the regions to the sound of a music that is yet to be discovered, the diverse and emotional music of the joropo."

The members of El Piano Llanero are Claudia Calderón at the piano; Rafael Brito on the cuatro (traditional four-string guitar) and tiple (12-string treble guitar); Luis Pino on the cuatro; Roberto Koch on the double bass; José Alberto Pérez on the maracas; and Luis Miguel Emmanuelli on the mandolin. The group will interpret a selection of their repertoire which is sure to delight the public.

The concert will be held in the CAF Cultural Center, which offers a continuous program of artistic expressions to promote the cultural integration of the shareholder countries. Opened in 1995, the Center consists of the Antonio José de Sucre Auditorium and the CAF Gallery.

About Claudia Calderón (*)

Pianist and composer born in Palmira, Colombia. Calderón studied piano and composition in Cali and Bogotá; and later in Germany with David Wilde and Diether de la Motte, and in Italy with György Sandor, disciple of Bella Bartok. She has lived in Caracas since 1987, where she has taught music in the Department of Chamber Music of the Simon Bolivar Conservatory, and the University Institute of Musical Studies IUDEM.

She has spent time researching the ethnic music of Colombia and Venezuela, developing an extensive original piano repertoire based on the music of the llanero harp and related instruments, such as the mandolin. With this program, she formed a group consisting of piano, two cuatros, tiple, double bass and maracas, which has made various international tours. She recorded her first disc El Piano Llanero I (published by the Bigott Foundation of Venezuela), and more recently El Piano Llanero II which is in process of editing.

Claudia has published articles and transcriptions on traditional harp music in Venezuela, Colombia and France, and has given papers for the Historical Harp Society at the University of Amherst, Massachusetts, and the University of Mainz in Germany. She recently recorded a solo disc with works by the Colombian composer Pedro Morales Pino (1863-1926) in the series of Banco de la República in Bogota.

Her compositions, which have been recorded in Colombia, England and Mexico, include works for solo piano and chamber and symphony works.

Calderón has given recitals and concerts including her own works in Colombia, Venezuela, France, Germany, South Africa, United States, Uruguay, England and Mexico; as well as chamber recitals with the cellist Paul Desenne. She accompanied the "Danzahoy" contemporary dance group of Caracas and has played as soloist with Venezuelan and Colombian orchestras. She currently holds a Mexican-Colombian-Venezuela scholarship for artistic residence in Mexico, which requires the composition of a contemporary work for piano and chamber orchestra.

(*) Taken from the website: www.pianollanero.com