Chicago Sinfonietta features Maestro Prieto in DEPTH

DEPTH will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4 in Naperville and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5 in Chicago.

Photo: Carlos Miguel Prieto. Courtesy of Benjamin Ealovega

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without,” said Confucius, whose life and teachings studied human nature and expressed the ability of human effort to shape its own destiny. Chicago Sinfonietta, a nationally and internationally acclaimed cultural leader, prepared a new concert program called DEPTH that will explore the depths of human nature and experience through music.

DEPTH will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 4 at Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, November 5 at Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

This concert program features renowned guest conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. Under the baton of Maestro Prieto, the Chicago Sinfonietta will perform a lineup of deep and diverse symphonic compositions.

“Known for his charisma and expressive interpretations, Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto has established himself not just as a major figure in the orchestra world but also as an influential cultural leader, educator, and a champion of new music,” according to Prieto’s biography on his website.

A native of Mexico City, Prieto grew up in a musical family of Spanish and French descent and is renowned for championing Latin American music. He is also famous for his dedication to new music. Prieto has conducted over 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers, many of which were commissioned by him. Also, Maestro Prieto places equal importance on advocating for works by Black and African American composers.

Prieto won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with orchestra) in 2010. He also won a 2016 Latin Grammy Award for Best Classical Album, with Gabriela Montero and the YOA Orchestra of the Americas. Prieto was recognized by Musical America as the 2019 Conductor of the Year. He is in great demand as a guest conductor with many top American orchestras.

Through symphonic music, Maestro Prieto investigates and demonstrates the depths of human nature expressed in musical notes, phrases, and melodies. Each piece he treats individually and provides his listeners with the best version of the composers’ ideas and intentions. Each composition is a story that is told using the means of sounds produced by a collaboration of various musical instruments, and Maestro Prieto knows the best way of demonstrating the beauty of orchestral music to his audiences.

The concert program opens with a composition called Kauyumari ("The Blue Deer") written by Mexican GRAMMY-nominated composer and music educator Gabriela Ortiz in 2021. Gabriela was born in Mexico City of parents who were folk musicians. At age 15 she already knew she wanted to become a composer. Ortiz graduated from Mexico’s Escuela Nacional de Música with a degree in composition in 1990, and in 1996 she received a PhD from The City University in London. In her music, Ortiz combines elements of Mexican folk melodies with modern compositional styles. Her music is full of complex rhythms and percussion.

Kauyumari was originally commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The melody is inspired by its namesake, which means “blue deer.” Curtis Institute of Music writes: “this thrilling work follows the hoofed blue spiritual guide of the Huichol people of Mexico on a peyote-fueled journey through the invisible world as they communicate with their ancestors, heal the wounds of the soul, and serve as guardians of the planet.”

The vibrant and colorful Sinfonia India by Carlos Chávez will continue the program. Born in 1899, Chávez was a Mexican conductor and composer who combined elements of traditional folk songs and modern compositional techniques in his music. Sinfonia India is Chávez’s Symphony No. 2, which was composed in 1935–1936. It’s a single movement with sections that follow the traditional pattern for a three-movement symphony. This is Chávez's most popular composition, and it’s based on three melodies originating from native-American tribes of northern Mexico.

Interestingly, Chávez wrote this piece, that blends indigenous Mexican folk melodies with the Western classical tradition, while staying in New York City in 1935. The work was premiered by Chávez leading the CBS orchestra in a live broadcast in January 1936.

The concert program will continue with the vibrant rhythms of Mexican composer Juan Pablo Contreras’ Mariachitlán, which blends traditional Mexican music with modern orchestral sounds for a truly unique experience. Contreras is a Latin Grammy-nominated composer whose works have been performed by 40 major orchestras around the world. He is the winner of the 2023 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music and is celebrated as the first Mexican-born composer to sign a record deal with Universal Music, serve as Sound Investment Composer with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and win the BMI William Schuman Prize.

“The new [Mariachitlán] orchestration brings the score to splendid life,” wrote Mark Swed of Los Angeles Times, and in just a few days Chicago-area audiences will have a chance to hear this piece.

After three masterpieces written by Mexican composers, Maestro Prieto will lead the Chicago Sinfonietta in performing famous Symphony No. 5 composed by Dmitri Shostakovich. This powerful and deeply moving work reflects the composer's struggle to create art in difficult conditions during Soviet times.

“I think it is clear to everyone what happens in the Fifth,” wrote Shostakovich. “The rejoicing is forced, created under threat, as in Boris Godunov. It's as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, ‘Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing,’ and you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering, ‘Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing.’”

It’s impossible to add something else to these words. The only way to understand this composition and to feel its depth is to actually hear it in concert.

Don't miss your opportunity to experience the Chicago Sinfonietta and guest conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto in this unforgettable concert program. For tickets, please go to https://chicagosinfonietta.org/depth/

Natalia Dagenhart

10/28/23