Music of the Americas
Reading Bach Choir
With 35 countries in both North and South America, our vibrant a cappella programme is filled with celebration and delight in the unique sounds and styles of choral music from Canada to Argentina. We trace a line from the Renaissance, when Spanish-born Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla travelled to modern-day Mexico and became the “master of music of New Spain” to dominant musical figures of the 20th century, such as the Brazilian, Heitor Villa-Lobos and the Argentinian, Alberto Ginastera. There is music from up and coming Canadian composers, the Haitian-American, Sydney Guillaume, and Pulitzer Prize-winning Caroline Shaw from the United States. A multitude of languages are represented, from Latin to Portuguese and Spanish to the native Nheengatu, expressing sacred stories, folk tales, and brilliant poems by the likes of Emma Lazarus and Pablo Neruda. The evening promises to be a colourful mosaic honouring the diversity of the Americas from top to bottom and East to West.
