Born in 1959, Paul Desenne—the Alabama Symphony Orchestra’s 2015-16 “Sound Investment” composer—began composing and performing pop-inspired original music in the 1970s in his native Caracas with his group “One Foot, One Eye.” He became a Paris Conservatory-educated First-Prize concert cellist who worked with the ensembles and orchestras of El Sistema for nearly three decades and was a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow and a 2010 Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellow. Desanne was living in Massachusetts when he tragically died in 2023 of a sudden heart attack. As the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra wrote in a tribute to the composer, “The departure of Paul Desenne leaves an irreparable void in Latin American music and in the international music scene. His legacy will live on in every note, reminding us of his passion, talent, and invaluable contribution to the enrichment of the musical heritage of our continent.”

Commissioned by the Salvi Foundation, Palenkumbe premiered at the 2008 Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia, performed by I Musici de Montréal Orchestra. The European premiere took place at Theater Lübeck in Germany on November 9, 2008, with the Orchestra of the Theater Lübeck under the direction of Raphael Jiménez. The relatively short overture exemplifies Desenne’s rich orchestration, playful sense of humor, and seamless integration of Western European and Latin American styles.