Program Notes

The composers featured on “Border Crossings, Part 1” come from different centuries and countries. The earliest known composer in the group is Santiago de Murcia who was born around 1682 in Spain. The latest composer is José Enrique González-Medina, who currently lives in Mexico City, where he composes and teaches composition and harmony at the Escuela Superior de Música in the Centro Nacional de las Artes. The remaining composers on the program are believed to have originated from Spain and Bolivia.

Spanish guitarist and composer Santiago de Murcia (c. 1682-1740) mainly wrote music for the guitar and also published Resumen de acompañar, a comprehensive treatise on playing the instrument in an ensemble. One of his musical collections, the Saldívar Codex, contains de Murcia’s versions of many Spanish dances. It is the earliest known written source for the dances la jota, fandango, and cumbé.

José Enrique González Medina (b. 1954) grew up in Tijuana, where he was surrounded by music at family gatherings. He studied music formally in Mexico City, where he learned more about the music of his country. Medina was fascinated with both the folk traditions and more cultivated art music of Mexico. The diversity of these influences has informed his work throughout his career. The titles of many of his pieces refer specifically to places in Mexico or in Baja California. For six years, Medina hosted a bilingual program on KUSC that presented Latin American concert music. His music touches both the past and present histories of Mexican music. Concierto barroco was premiered in 2003 by Pacific Serenades, the ensemble which commissioned the piece.

Christine Lee Gengaro, PhD