Latin American Miniatures:

José Evangelista (Spain/Canada)                   Spanish Garland (1991)

Dan Roman (Puerto Rico)                              Montuno Fever* (2014)       

Manuel M. Ponce (Mexico)                            Estrellita and Gavota           

Alejandro Cardona (Costa Rica)                    Echú (2010) *                      

Miguel del Aguila (Uruguay/USA)                Presto No. 2* (1995)

—Intermission—

George Gershwin (USA)                                Lullaby (1918)

Francisco Mignone (Brazil)                           Essay for quartet (1958)                      

Javier Alvarez (Mexico)                                 Metro Chabacano (1991)

Carlos Gardel  (Argentina)                             Volver  (arr. Enrique Lopez)   

                                                                        Por una cabeza (arr. Enrique Lopez)     

Astor Piazzolla (Argentina)                            Four for Tango (1987)                          

                                                                        Libertango

Cuarteto Latinoamericano is one of the world’s most renowned string quartets and, for over forty years, the leading proponent of Latin American music for the genre. Founded in Mexico in 1982, the Cuarteto has toured extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, Israel, China, Japan, and New Zealand. They have premiered over a hundred works written for them, and they continue to introduce new and neglected composers to the genre. Winners of two Latin Grammy Award for Best Classical Album, they have also been awarded the prestigious Diapason d’Or, have been recognized with the Mexican Music Critics Association Award, and have received three “Most Adventurous Programming” Awards from Chamber Music America/ASCAP.

The Cuarteto Latinoamericano was quartet-in-residence at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh from 1988 until 2008. Under the auspices of the Sistema Nacional de Orquestas Juveniles of Venezuela, the Cuarteto created the Latin American Academy for String Quartets, based in Caracas, which was active between 2008 and 2014. The Academy served as a training ground for five select young string quartets from the Sistema, groups which went on to lead active international careers

Cuarteto Latinoamericano’s members are three Bitrán brothers: violinists Saul and Aron and cellist Alvaro, with violist Javier Montiel. They have recorded more than 100 CDs, including nearly the entire Latin American repertoire for the string quartet. Volume 6 of their Villa-Lobos cycle of 17 string quartets on Dorian was nominated for a Grammy Award and a Latin Grammy for Best Chamber Music Recording. Their albums Brasileiro, works of Mignone (2012), and El Hilo Invisible (2016) won Latin Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album. The work Inca Dances by Gabriela Lena Frank, recorded by Cuarteto Latinoamericano with Manuel Barrueco, won the 2009 Latin Grammy for Best New Latin Composition.