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Concert program for Quinteto Latino

Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 8 pm

Download a copy of the program here.

Quinteto Latino

Diane Grubbe, flute
Kyle Bruckmann, oboe
Leslie Tagorda, clarinet
Shawn Jones, bassoon
Armando Castellano, Ensemble Director & French horn

Program

Please note this event is a conversation between Armando Castellano of Quinteto Latino and Old First Concerts Director Matt Wolka about the origins of the ensemble, the state of Latino music and musicians and the effect of the current DEI movement on increasing BIPOC participation in the classical music world, with performances by Quinteto Latino.

Astor Piazzolla
Libertango 

Introduction

Carlos Chavez
from Soli No. 2
    II. Rondo
    III. Aria

Conversation I

Liduino Pitombeira
from Suite Hermetica
    III. São João em Arapiraca
    IV. Arrasta-pé

Conversation II

Júlio Medaglia
Belle Epoque en Sud-America
    I. El Porsche Negro (Tango)

Conversation III

Júlio Medaglia
Belle Epoque en Sud-America
    III. Requinta Maluca (Chorinho)

About the musicians

Founded in 2004, Quinteto Latino is a professional, multi-racial wind quintet whose performing repertoire consists solely of classical and commissioned works by Latino and Latin American composers. Armando Castellano, Founder, Artistic Director, and French Horn player, sought t7o challenge the racially exclusionary roots of classical music by putting the voices of diverse Latino communities at the front of all Quinteto Latino’s performances, whether formal concerts, school assemblies, or community events.

In addition to concertizing, Quinteto Latino has commissioned new works by Latino composers and brings together early career professional Latino classical musicians from throughout the US to train in chamber music performance and to address diversity and equity issues in classical music.

Quinteto Latino is the professional performance group of Latino Music Education Network, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization officially incorporated in 2020 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Armando Castellano, Ensemble Director and French horn, is a chamber musician, bilingual teaching artist, and arts advocate from the San Francisco Bay Area. As a French horn player he performs professionally in orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the region.  In addition, he manages and performs in his chamber ensemble Quinteto Latino, an organization that advocates for classical music by Latin American and Latino composers through performance and education. Audience interaction and development is the cornerstone to Quinteto Latino’s success in reaching diverse audiences and communities. Armando graduated with honors from San José City College and the University of California at Los Angeles where he studied with Bob Watt, before moving on to receive a Masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where he studied with Erik Ralske and Jerome Ashby.  He has taught throughout the Bay Area in both English and Spanish from pre-school to college and has performed in many of the Bay Area’s regional orchestras.  He has spent much of the last 15 years organizing and performing chamber music, culminating in his current work as founder and director of the wind quintet, Quinteto Latino.

Diane Grubbe, flute, freelances throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a regular performer with Pocket Opera and has also appeared with the Stockton Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Lamplighters, Festival Opera, and others. Drawn to the evolving tonal possibilities of the flute, Diane enjoys improvising as well as studying and performing new works. She often performs with the contemporary music ensemble sfSound, and has been a guest performer with Earplay, the Eco Ensemble, Santa Cruz New Music Works, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. Diane holds Bachelor and Masters degrees in flute performance from San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory, respectively. Her instructors include Paul Renzi, Lloyd Gowen and Tim Day of the San Francisco Symphony; and Barbara Chaffe and Jim Walker of the San Francisco Ballet and Opera Orchestras. She has performed in masterclasses with Julius Baker, Heinz Holliger, Robert Dick and Robert Stallman.

Kyle Bruckmann, oboe, works as a composer/performer, educator, classical freelancer and new music specialist extends from conservatory-trained foundations into gray areas encompassing free jazz, post-punk rock, and the noise underground. Beyond Quinteto Latino, his current ensemble affiliations include Splinter Reeds, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, sfSound, Eco Ensemble, and the Stockton Symphony. Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area from Chicago in 2003, he has performed as a substitute with the San Francisco Symphony and most of the area’s regional orchestras while remaining active within an international community of improvisers and sound artists, appearing on more than 80 recordings of various genres. He is now Assistant Professor of Practice in Oboe and Contemporary Performance at University of the Pacific, and also teaches at UC Santa Cruz, Davis and Berkeley. Bruckmann earned undergraduate degrees in music and psychology at Rice University in Houston, studying oboe with Robert Atherholt and serving as music director of campus radio station KTRU. He completed his Masters degree in 1996 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he studied oboe performance with Harry Sargous and contemporary improvisation with Ed Sarath.

Leslie Tagorda, clarinet, was born and raised in Hawaii, received a B.M. in Clarinet Performance from the Eastman School of Music and an M.M. from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In her long career as musician, Leslie has worked as both educator and performer. In Hawaii, Leslie worked with the Royal Hawaiian Band, the Hawaii Opera Theater, and the Honolulu Symphony as a freelance clarinetist. In the Bay Area, Leslie has freelanced with regional orchestras including the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Sacramento Opera, Modesto Symphony, Marin Symphony, Monterey Symphony, California Symphony, New Century Chamber Orchestra and Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. Currently Leslie concentrates her musical time to chamber music including Quinteto Latino. When not busy with music, Leslie runs a branding and design studio, New Moon Creative Co. where she weaves astrology and design into strategies for small businesses and nonprofits to lead with purpose and impact.

Shawn Jones, bassoon, is a graduate of the Juilliard School and Rice University. He has performed as a member of the Colorado, Detroit, and San Francisco Symphonies as both a bassoonist and contrabassoonist. During the summers he taught at the renowned Interlochen Arts Camp, performed with the Grand Tetons Music Festival Orchestra, traveled to Japan to perform with the Pacific Music Festival, toured Russia with the American Russian Youth Orchestra, and performed as a member of the Colorado Music Festival. Shawn is also very active as a freelance musician in the San Francisco Bay area, playing as a member of the Santa Rosa Symphony and Berkeley Symphony as well as a frequent Substitute with the San Francisco Ballet and Opera Orchestras. In addition to his skills as a bassoonist, he is also a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist and black belt in Kung Fu. Shawn was born and raised in Miami, Florida and moved to the Bay Area in 2005.

Old First Concerts has volunteer opportunities available!

Our concerts rely on the generosity of volunteers to assist with simple tasks like:

ushering

distributing programs

box office

set-up and clean-up

Scheduling is flexible — you choose when to work! We especially need helping hands for our Friday and Saturday night performances.

An excellent opportunity for students, seniors, or anyone who possesses a love for music!

If you’d like to consider volunteering with Old First Concerts, please contact curtishuth@oldfirstconcerts.org for more information.