ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Arcomusical (Portuguese for “musical bow”) is a non-profit organization with a mission to spread the joy of the berimbau and related African and Afrodiasporic musical bows. Arcomusical’s multiple programs in composition, performance, research, publication, education, and community function in consort to realize this vision.
Through the development and presentation of pioneering musical bow repertoire that includes solo, chamber, and concerto settings, Arcomusical’s two flagship ensembles, Arcomusical Brasil (Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil) and Projeto Arcomusical (DeKalb, Illinois, USA) afford audiences a powerful and unique experience. At PASIC 2019 world music showcase,. both ensembles will perform together for the first time. Projeto Arcomusical will perform music from its second album release “Spinning in the Wheel” and Arcomusical Brasil will present music from its first album that will be released in time for PASIC. The unifying theme of the selected repertoire is a celebration of the berimbau’s rich connection to capoeira.
ABOUT THE SHOWCASE CONCERT: Spinning in the Wheel
Projeto Arcomusical proposes a showcase performance that features its second album “Spinning in the Wheel.” Released on National Sawdust Tracks, the album features compositions by four composers: Elliot Cole, Alexis C. Lamb, Kyle Flens, and Gregory Beyer. The concept of the wheel, an integral aspect of the body game Capoeira Angola, runs throughout the album’s design. The seven works are cyclically organized: sextet – trio – duo – solo – duo – trio – sextet.
The two sextets that frame the program are Elliot Cole’s “Roda,” a kaleidoscopic, twenty-minute, four-movement work commissioned thanks to a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant; and Gregory Beyer’s Berimbau Sextet no. 2, “Traíra,” an homage to three important capoeira and berimbau masters: Mestre Traíra, born José Ramos do Nascimento (1920-1970); Mestre Gato Preto, born José Gabriel Góes (1930-2002); and Naná Vasconcelos (1944-2016), the original inspiration for which everything Arcomusical stands.