Camarada ensemble is on the move, from downtown to Balboa Park to Argentina
The San Diego chamber music ensemble’s upcoming concerts will honor female composers, Mexican and Latin-American music, including tango
By Beth Wood, San Diego Union-Tribune
Camarada will cap off its 2022-23 season with an intercontinental bang, by showcasing female composers, exploring mariachi and danzón music and touring Argentina for two weeks.
On Thursday, the shape-shifting San Diego chamber ensemble will present “Music SHE Wrote” at the Balboa Park’s Mingei International Museum. The program includes such well-known living composers as Americans Amanda Harberg and Libby Larsen, as well as overlooked ones from past eras, such as Rebecca Clarke and Cécile Chaminade.
“We already do a lot of women’s music in our concerts,” said flutist Beth Ross Buckley, who shares Camarada’s artistic director role with pianist Dana Burnett. “But we wanted to make a statement about how much great music there is by women. We want to call attention because many people don’t even think of women as composers.
“Dana adores Clara Schumann’s work. Even though she’s a well-known composer, we wanted to do it. The repertoire was fun to research. There are so many good pieces, it was hard to decide what to play.”
A British-American violist, Clarke was one of the first females to become a professional orchestral player. Clarke’s compositions became popular shortly before her death in 1979, but then were forgotten. Cécile Chaminade, born in Paris in 1857, wrote hundreds of pieces and enjoyed success for a short time, but died in obscurity.
The musicians joining Ross Buckley and Burnett Thursday at the Mingei will be violist Travis Maril and harpist Elena Mashkovtseva. Both perform with Camarada often.
“I love combining art and music — it creates a more visceral experience,” Ross Buckley said. “People walk through the museum before we perform. Many go to the Mingei’s restaurant, Artifact. You can have a beautiful dinner, enjoy visual art, and hear our concert — beauty on many levels.”
Fiery Musical journey
In addition to the Mingei, Camarada’s venues this season included Bread & Salt in Logan Heights, The Conrad in La Jolla and UC San Diego’s Park @ Market in East Village. “It’s exciting for us to work collaboratively with our nonprofit partners,” said Lisa Barnhouse, Camarada’s executive director. “Our artists, venues, and audiences are committed to keeping performing arts a vital part of San Diego’s cultural scene.”
This season, Camarada embarked on a new partnership with Park @ Market for the Music of the Americas series. At the April 22 “En Fuego” concert at Park @ Market, Ross Buckley and Burnett will play with a bigger ensemble. They’ll be joined by award-winning Mariachi Champaña Nevin, its founder Jeff Nevin and a couple of members of his troupe. Nevin will bring his trumpet and a few of his arrangements.
The concert promises to be a fiery sonic journey featuring works by Mexico’s danzón master, Arturo Márquez, and the late mariachi Rubén Fuentes. Other composers highlighted will be Uruguayan Miguel del Águila, a Seattle-based collaborator of Camarada, and Argentinian legend Astor Piazzolla, the father of nuevo tango.
There will also be a special version of Piazzolla’s classic piece, “Oblivion,” arranged by Andrés Martín, a frequent Camarada collaborator and sought-after composer. He will play double bass with the ensemble at that concert. “At Park @ Market, we’re going in a different direction because it’s a UCSD crowd, one that often comes for lectures,” Ross Buckley explained. “Our concerts there always have an interview with the composers or artists.” Both Martín and Nevin will speak at the concert, which will begin with an interview of Nevin by Rafael Fernández, director of UCSD’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies.
Camarada’s last concert of the season, “Over the Rainbow,” will find the ensemble taking yet another form. On May 4 at the Mingei, Ross Buckley will perform with San Diego jazz luminaries Holly Hofmann and Mike Wofford and a top-notch rhythm section.
The Tango Tour
In mid-May, the Camarada Tango Quartet will leave for Argentina to tour and soak up the music the region is famous for. The quartet features Burnett, Martín, Ross Buckley and her violinist husband, David Buckley. Camarada has commissioned Martín — a native of Buenos Aires and longtime Tijuana resident — for three compositions over the past three years. The quartet will play his two tango pieces while on tour in Buenos Aires and Córdoba. “Andrés’ pieces are very influenced by Piazzolla — the ultimate Tango Nuevo,” Ross Buckley said. “Andrés is an amazing composer and Camarada is committed to getting his music out there. We are planning an East Coast tour in September.”
During its two weeks in Argentina, Camarada will perform and meet with local musicians. The quartet will also lay down tracks at Estudios Ion, where Piazzolla recorded some of his iconic music. “Performing in Buenos Aires with Camarada is a great honor,” Martín said via email. “It will be fantastic to immerse ourselves in the tango roots and infuse the quartet with the soul of tango. We already play tango on a world-class chamber-music level, but being able to share our personal and original vision of tango with the people who live in the epicenter of this lifestyle is exciting and thrilling. We hope to bring back a full load of inspiration so we can continue to create and feed our group.”
Camarada: ‘Music SHE Wrote’
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park
Tickets: $45 - $65
Camarada: En Fuego
When: 7:30 p.m. April 22
Where: UC San Diego Park & Market, 1100 Market St., East Village
Tickets: $35 - $55
Phone: (619) 231-3702
Online: camarada.org
Wood is a freelance writer.