Pacho Flores returns to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra with Rafael Payare after his great success last summer as resident artist of La Virée Classique, the summer festival organized by the Canadian orchestra, where he performed three different programs in his triple facet of trumpeter, composer and conductor. In this next concert, which will take place at the Maison Symphonique on Saturday, April 29 at 9 p.m., they will perform the American premiere of the full orchestra version of Cantos y revueltas, by Pacho Flores himself, whose world premiere took place a month ago with the Arctic Philharmonic of Norway under Manuel Hernández-Silva. On this occasion, Pacho will be accompanied by the cuatrista Héctor Molina and the maraquero Edgardo Jair Acosta.
Pacho Flores has just obtained an enormous success in his debut with the Galician Symphony Orchestra, where he has been a resident artist this season, offering up to three different programs: two symphonic programs, both conducted by Manuel Hernández-Silva, and a chamber music concert with the guitarist and cuatro player Jesús “Pingüino” González. This season Pacho is also an artist in residence at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, to which he will shortly pay his second visit this year for the UK premiere of Altar de Bronce, by Gabriela Ortiz, whose world premiere took place ago two weeks ago with the Galician Symphony, as both orchestras are part of the commissioning consortium for this new trumpet concert by the Mexican composer, together with the Orquesta de Minería de México, the New World Symphony and the San Diego Symphony.
After this concert with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Pacho will travel to the state of Washington, in the USA, for the last premiere of Daniel Freiberg’s Historias de Flores y Tangos with the Walla Walla Symphony Orchestra under the baton of José Luis Gómez. This Freiberg concert had its first premiere in Spain with the Oviedo Filarmonía, then with the Orquesta de Minería in Mexico and more recently in Norway with Manuel Hernández-Silva, as afore mentioned.
Pacho Flores and Hernández-Silva meet again for a joint debut and a double program with the Galician Symphony Orchestra, where Pacho is artist in residence this season. The first program will be part of the Easter workshop of the Galician Youth Symphony Orchestra and include Concierto de Otoño, by Arturo Márquez, and Albares, a concert for flugelhorn by Pacho himself, together with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. This concert will take place at the Palacio de la Ópera de Coruña on April 9. The second program, a subscription concert, will feature Kalinnikov’s Symphony No. 1, Paquito de Rivera’s Concerto Venezolano and the world premiere of Altar de Bronce, a trumpet concerto by Gabriela Ortiz dedicated to Pacho and jointly commissioned by the OSG with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Minería Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony and the San Diego Symphony. These concerts will take place at the Ferrol Auditorium and the Palacio de la Ópera de A Coruña on April 13 and 14, respectively. A few days later, on April 18, Pacho will offer a chamber recital with the guitarist Jesús ‘Pingüino’ González within the season of the Philharmonic Society of A Coruña as part of his artistic residence with the OSG, performing the repertoire of his album ENTROPÍA. González will also participate as a cuatrista in D’Rivera’s work the previous week.
Gabriela Ortiz is one of the most prominent composers of today. She has received commissions from soloists and orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Britain, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Galician Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de Minería, Kroumata and Amadinda Percussion Ensembles, Kronos Quartet, Latin American Quartet, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Quartet, Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, etc. Ortiz has been distinguished with the National Prize for Arts and Literature of Mexico, the Mexican Academy of Arts, the First Prize in the Silvestre Revueltas National Chamber Music Contest and the Alicia Urreta Composition Contest, or the Mozart Medal Award, among others.
Pacho Flores with Vicente Honorato, CEO of STOMVI
Altar de Bronce is the seventh trumpet concerto to emerge from the project of shared commissions for new trumpet concertos by prominent composers such as Arturo Márquez, Paquito D’Rivera, Roberto Sierra, Efraín Oscher, Christian Lindberg, Daniel Freiberg and Gabriela Ortiz. A unique peculiarity of Pacho Flores’ concerts is the amount of instruments that he uses. In close collaboration with the R+D department of the STOMVI company, they have jointly developed new prototypes in various keys, all of them with four pistons. If the fourth piston alone manages to widen the tessitura of the instrument, the sum of several of these instruments with low, medium and high registers in each work multiplies both the range as well as the timbre and color in an extraordinary way, since he combines cornets, trumpets and flugelhorn. For these concerts with OSG, Pacho will use up to 10 different trumpets: C cornet, D cornet, soprano F cornet, soprano G cornet; Bb, C, A and D flugelhorns, C trumpet and D trumpet, distributed as follows: Arturo Márquez, C trumpet, Bb flugelhorn, soprano F cornet; Pacho Flores, C flugelhorn, low A flugelhorn and soprano D flugelhorn, (all of them new prototypes made specifically for this concert); Paquito D’Rivera, C cornet, C trumpet, soprano G cornet, Bb flugelhorn, soprano F cornet; Gabriela Ortiz, D cornet, Bb flugelhorn, C and D trumpets.
This is the list of orchestras that have participated in the project, with the names of the conductors and dates of premieres, either already performed or planned, and all of them, naturally, by Pacho Flores.
Arturo Márquez – Concierto de Otoño
National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico (Mexico), Carlos Miguel Prieto, September 7 and 9, 2018; Tucson Symphony Orchestra (USA), José Luis Gómez, January 25 and 27, 2019; Hyogo PAC Orchestra (Japan), Michiyoshi Inoue, May 24, 25 and 26, 2019; Oviedo Filarmonía (Spain), Lucas Macías, August 14, 2019.
Paquito D’Rivera – Concerto Venezolano
Minería Symphony Orchestra (Mexico), Carlos Miguel Prieto, September 1, 2019; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (United Kingdom), Domingo Hindoyan, November 11 and 14, 2021; Valencia Orchestra (Spain), Hernández-Silva, February 3, 2022; San Diego Symphony (USA), Rafael Payare, February 25, 26 and March 2, 2022.
Roberto Sierra – Salseando
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), Domingo Hindoyan, January 9, 2020; Symphony Orchestra of the Region of Murcia (Spain), Hernández-Silva, December 17, 2020; Symphony Orchestra of the State of São Paulo (Brazil), Carlos Miguel Prieto, March 31, April 1 and 2, 2022; Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine (France), Hernández-Silva, June 3, 2022.
Daniel Freiberg – Historias de Flores y Tangos
Oviedo Filarmonía (Spain), Lucas Macías, October 23, 2021; Minería Symphony Orchestra (Mexico), Carlos Miguel Prieto, August 20 and 21, 2022; Arctic Philharmonic (Norway), Hernández-Silva, March 16 and 17, 2023; Walla Walla Symphony (USA), Yaacob Bergman, May 2, 2023.
Efraín Oscher – Danzas Latinas
Royal Philharmonic of Galicia (Spain), Hernández-Silva; November 21 and 22, 2019.
Gabriela Ortiz – Altar de Bronce
Galician Symphony Orchestra (Spain), Hernández-Silva; April 14 and 15, 2023; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (United Kingdom), D. Hindoyan; July 8, 2023; Minería Symphony Orchestra (Mexico), Carlos Miguel Prieto, August 19 and 20, 2023; New World Symphony (USA), Carlos M. Prieto; February 9 and 10, 2024; San Diego Symphony (USA), Rafael Payare, February 16 and 17, 2024.
Christian Lindberg – Caballos Mágicos
Royal Philharmonia of Galicia (Spain), Paul Daniel, May 27 and 28, 2021; Swedish Chamber Orchestra (Sweden), Christian Lindberg, September 30, 2021; Central Ohio Symphony (USA), Jaime Morales, March 17, 2024; Bilkent Symphony Orchestra (Turkey), Christian Lindberg, 2024/25 season.
D. Freiberg, A. Márquez, P. D’Rivera, P. Flores and C. M. Prieto during the recording of ESTIRPE for Deutsche Grammophon
In addition, throughout this period Pacho Flores has also premiered other concerts that some composers have written for him on their own initiative or that have been commissioned by other orchestras in parallel to this project: Pacho Flores: Cantos y revueltas (11/12/13 January 2018, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Hernández-Silva); Giancarlo Castro: Stunning Trumpet (February 23, 2018, Ulster Orchestra, Rafael Payare); Alain Trudel: Preach, pour trumpette et orchestre (March 14, 2018, Orchester Symphonique de Laval, Alain Trudel); Efraín Oscher: Apex, Double concerto for clarinet and trumpet (August 31, 2018, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Markus Bosch); Daniel Freiberg: Latin American Chronicles (4/5/6 January 2019, Het Gelders Orkest, Christian Vásquez); Christian Lindberg: Un sueño morisco, double concerto for trumpet and trombone (March 21/22, 2019, RTVE Orchestra, Christian Lindberg); Arturo Sandoval: Trumpet Concerto (July 11, 2019, Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra, Enrique Diemecke); Eleanor Alberga: Invocation (20 September 2021, London Schools Symphony Orchestra, Peter Ash); Pacho Flores: Heterónimos, concertino for trumpet (April 24, 2022, Symphony of the Region of Murcia, Flores; Albares, concert for flugelhorn, April 29, 2022, Tenerife Symphony, Christian Vásquez); Igmar Alderete: Mambí, Concerto for trumpet and orchestra (June 16 and 17, 2022, Orquesta de Córdoba, Carlos Domínguez-Nieto); Sonia Morales: Divertimento Caribeño, No. 6 (March 17, 2024, Central Ohio Symphony, Jaime Morales); Tuomas Turriago: Trumpet Concerto (April 5, 2024, Tampere Philharmonia, Christian Vásquez). Other concerts are currently being created by composers such as Alonso Toro, Mauricio González Brito or Igmar Alderete.
Manuel Hernández-Silva, Pacho Flores and Leo Rondón come together again for several new premieres, this time with the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway, with which Pacho recorded his third album for Deutsche Grammophon, Fractales (2018), under the baton of Christian Lindberg. Two works by Pacho Flores will see the World premiere of their new version for full orchestra on this occasion: Musas y Resuello, a divertimento originally conceived for brass ensemble, premiered in 2021 by the Bogota Philharmonic Brass Ensemble, and Cantos y Revueltas, originally written for trumpet, Venezuelan Cuatro and strings. The latter was premiered by the same protagonists and the Real Filharmonía de Galicia in January 2018, a premiere that was recorded for the homonymous album (2019), also for the yellow label. The concerts will take place on March 16 and 17 at the Kulturhus in Tromsø and at the Stormen Konserthus in Bodø respectively, both at 7:00 p.m.
Historias de Flores y Tangos by Daniel Freiberg will be a premiere in Norway as well. Also part of the project of shared commissions for new trumpet concerts promoted by Pacho Flores, this piece has already seen its Spanish and Mexican premieres with the Oviedo Filarmonía and the Minería Symphony Orchestra conducted by their respective Music Directors, Lucas Macías and Carlos Miguel Prieto. Historias de Flores y Tangos will conclude its cycle of premieres this spring with the US Walla Walla Symphony under Yaakov Bergman. The program with the Arctic Philharmonic also includes Estancia ballet suite, by Alberto Ginastera.
Copyright RFG
The following week, Hernández-Silva and Pacho Flores take similar roads, as one goes to Argentina to open the concert season of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic while the other goes to Chile to play with the National Symphony Orchestra. Shortly afterwards, their paths will cross again at the Galician Symphony Orchestra in a double program that includes the World premiere of Altar de Bronce, by Gabriela Ortiz, together with the revival of other concerts that have already been premiered, such as the Concerto Venezolano by Paquito D’Rivera, the Concierto de Otoño, by Arturo Márquez, both of which also make part of the aforementioned project of shared commissions, and Albares, the flugelhorn concerto by Pacho Flores himself.
Further coincidences will take place, since Hernández-Silva and Leo Rondón will meet again with the National Symphony of Colombia for the World premiere of Concierto del Mar, for Venezuelan Cuatro and orchestra, composed by Leo himself. Next season holds even more appointments and premieres from Sweden to Singapore and from Poland to Spain, which will be announced in due course.
Hernández-Silva and Pacho Flores meet once again, this time together with the Tucson Symphony, to offer the US premiere of Salseando, the trumpet concerto that Roberto Sierra wrote for Pacho. Commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Symphony Orchestra of the Region of Murcia in Spain, and Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Hernández-Silva himself was in charge of its Spanish and French premieres with the latter two. Boceto Sinfónico, by maestro Manuel Moreno Buendía, will also be premiered in the US, and the program will be completed with the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, by Bernstein, and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy.
The history of collaborations between Hernández-Silva and Pacho Flores is so long that it would occupy several pages, but due to their relevance it is worth noting the World premieres of Cantos y Revueltas, by Pacho Flores himself, or Danzas Latinas, by Efraín Oscher, both with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia; the aforementioned premiere of Salseando, by Sierra, with the Symphony Orchestra of the Region of Murcia and the National Symphony of Bordeaux-Aquitaine; the premiere of the Concerto Venezolano by Paquito D’Rivera with the Orquesta de València; and the upcoming premieres of Historias de Flores y Tangos, by Daniel Freiberg, with the Arctic Philharmonic of Norway next March, and Altar de Bronce, trumpet concert by Gabriela Ortiz, with the Sinfónica de Galicia next April. Hernández-Silva is also responsible for conducting the fourth album by Pacho Flores for Deutsche Grammophon, entitled Cantos y Revueltas, together with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, which also includes the participation of Leo Rondón as a cuatrista.
In Spain, Hernández-Silva and Pacho Flores have already played together with the aforementioned Real Filharmonía, Región de Murcia and Valencia orchestras, as well as with the Málaga Philharmonic, the Navarra Symphony, the Gran Canaria Philharmonic and the Extremadura Orchestra, and will soon have a double performance with the Sinfónica de Galicia.
Pacho Flores makes his debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (New York) under the direction of its Music Director JoAnn Falletta with a program that includes Haydn’s trumpet concerto and Arturo Márquez’s Concierto de Otoño. The concerts will take place on October 28 and 29 at the Kleinhans Music Hall in the city of Buffalo. This is the first stop on a brief US tour that will also take him to New Hampshire and California, with Arturo Márquez’s Concierto de Otoño as a kind of common thread.
In New Hampshire, he will stop at the Hopkins Center for the Arts of Dartmouth College, in the city of Hanover, to present, together with the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble, the world premiere of his own work Cantos y Revueltas as well as of the Concierto de Otoño, both in arrangement for symphonic band. The first piece, in which he will be accompanied by Venezuelan cuatro player Héctor Molina, will be conducted by Brian E. Messier, and the second by Luis Manuel Sánchez. The concert will take place on November 1 at the Spaulding Auditorium.
He will then travel to California for his third debut on this tour, this time with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Carlos Miguel Prieto, with which he will again perform Arturo Márquez’s Concierto de Otoño at the Davis Symphony Hall on November 5. The Concierto de Otoño, commissioned by the National Orchestra of Mexico, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Hyogo Pac Orchestra of Japan and the Oviedo Filarmonía, is part of Pacho’s latest album for Deutsche Grammophon, ESTIRPE, together with Paquito D’Rivera’s Concerto Venezolano, Concierto Mestizo by Efraín Oscher and Crónicas Latinoamericanas by Daniel Freiberg, in addition to Morocota, a brief Venezuelan waltz by Pacho himself, recorded with Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería.
