CapeGazette.com: Delaware Symphony Orchestra & Brasil Guitar Duo to Perform & Record "The Book of Signs" by Afro-Cuban Composer Leo Brouwer Feb. 26, 28

Leo Brouwer
(markozorec.wordpress.com)

The Afro-Cuban composer, classical guitarist and conductor we now know as Leo Brouwer was named Juan Leovigildo Brouwer when he came into the world in Havana, Cuba. Maestro Brouwer will be 77 on March 1, 2016. He is featured at AfriClassical.com.

Cape Gazette

February 16, 2016

Delaware Symphony concert with Brasil Guitar Duo set Feb. 26, 28

The Delaware Symphony Orchestra has launched a major international recording project that will feature Brasil Guitar Duo, exceptional Brazilian guitarists João Luiz and Douglas Lora, performing three concerti for two guitars and orchestra, including the U.S. premiere of "The Book of Signs" by Cuban composer and cultural icon Leo Brouwer, plus concerti by noted contemporary Brazilian composers Paulo Bellinati and Egberto Gismonti.

The recording will be made during two concerts with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra Friday, Feb. 26 and Sunday, Feb. 28. It will be produced and distributed internationally by Naxos, the world’s leading classical music label, known for recording exciting new repertoire with exceptional talent.

Music Director David Amado will conduct the DSO and Brasil Guitar Duo in the concerts, titled Fantastic Guitars, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 26,  and at 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 28, at the Geipel Center at Sanford School in Hockessin. Following the guitar concerti, the second half of the concert will be devoted to the monumental "Symphonie Fantastique" of Hector Berlioz.

Amado said of the recording, “The opportunity to work with such fine musicians documenting such interesting, beautiful, and important repertoire is a rare privilege. I look forward to the process, to the music-making, and of course, to the successful release of this wonderful album.”

Amado described this effort as a confluence of cultures and added, “Leo Brouwer's permission for the U. S. premiere performance and recording of his 'The Book of Signs' for two guitars and string orchestra ignited this powerful collaboration, and we are thrilled to be a part of it, especially at this unprecedented period of thaw between the U.S. and Cuba. As diplomats smooth the political creases, artists can smooth the cultural ones.”

In spite of its political isolation, Cuba has been an artistic powerhouse, and Brouwer has been a primary source of that energy. His work as a guitarist and a composer has been celebrated around the world. Amado said, “This is a rare opportunity to document the work of one of the guitar world’s most important voices in a once-in-a-lifetime political climate.”