Guitarist Anton Machleder Says of Leo Brouwer: 'He uses a lot of Afro-Cuban elements'

[Leo Brouwer (b. 1939)]

Renowned guitarist combines different music styles for performance

Hannah Tomlin, Daily Vidette Senior Staff

Illinois State University

Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: Features

Renowned guitarist Anton Machleder, along with his violinist An-Chi "Angel" OuYang, stunned the audience with their extraordinary and colorful performance on the evening of March 2 in Kemp Recital Hall. Machleder has performed solo recitals and chamber music concerts across the United States. Under the instruction of Nicholas Goluses, he completed the DMA in guitar and music literature at the Eastman School of Music. In 1992, he performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall as winner of the Artists International Competition. His articles have been published in numerous journals, including the American String Teacher, Extempore and Soundboard. He is currently teaching at the Greatbatch School of Music as an assistant professor and directs Red Creek Recording Studios in Rochester, New York.

The first piece he performed was "Estudios Sencillos" by Leo Brouwer, a composer, guitarist and music director from Havana, Cuba. Machleder said, "He uses a lot of Afro-Cuban elements. You can hear a lot of that rhythmic interplay in his music." The movements in this piece included "Movido," "Coral," "Rapido," "Comodo," "Allegretto" and "Arpegiando." Machleder's second piece, "Canticum," is also by Leo Brouwer. "It's a bit atonal. The rhythm is very free, as there are no bar lines," he said. "Eclosion," the first movement in "Canticum," can be defined as the emergence of an adult insect from a pupal case or an insect larva from an egg. The sounds throughout the movement depicted the struggle of the insect. The second movement was entitled "Ditirambo." Machleder described it as "sort of a Latin version of a Greek drinking dance." [Full Post] [Leo Brouwer (b. 1939) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]