El Rich (b. 1984) works at the intersections of musical genres. With a mixed background as both a guitarist/songwriter and composer/arranger, El combines the sounds and idioms of Folk and Popular music with Classical and Crossover ensembles.
El's compositions have received performances at the American Dance Festival, World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial and Regional Conferences, Society of Composers National and Regional Conferences, and many other festivals and events.
As a guitarist and songwriter, El draws inspiration from across the varied genres of American, British, and Celtic folk and popular traditions. El is guitarist, mandolinist, and songwriter for progressive folk band Winterbirds.
El received an MM from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (2014), and is currently a DMA candidate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Winterbirds offer a powerful take on Progressive Folk. Deeply versed in traditional Appalachian Folk, Bluegrass and Newgrass, Classical Music, and Contemporary Chamber Music, these multi-faceted performers cloak timeless melodies in unusual instrumental colors and thrilling textures. At once familiar and strange, their debut album Shaker Songs weaves the poetry of the American Shakers into a compelling exploration of the tensions between humility, self-expression, and love. Their second album, Annie Bell's Quilt, is scheduled for release in 2023.
Rich says of On the Wing:
"On the Wing was originally commissioned by vocal duo Avimimus (Alexandra Kassouf and Lauren McAllister) as a suite of songs for voices and guitar. In this version for folk band and string orchestra, I took inspiration from some of my favorite live concerts of the 90s, including Page and Plant's No Quarter and the The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over. These reunion specials included lavish arrangements for large ensembles backing the band, a combination of sounds that has been in my ear ever since."
Nañigo is based on a West African dance form and an Afro-Cuban 6/8 rhythm that permeates the piece.
Abakuá, also sometimes known as Ñañiguismo, is an Afro-Cuban men's initiatory fraternity or secret society, which originated from fraternal associations in the Cross River region of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. Abakuá has been described as "an Afro-Cuban version of Freemasonry".
Members of this society came to be known as ñañigos, a word used to designate the street dancers of the society. The ñañigos, who were also called diablitos, were well known by the general population in Cuba through their participation in the Carnival on the Day of the Three Kings, when they danced through the streets wearing their ceremonial outfit, a multicolored checkerboard dress with a conical headpiece topped with tassels.
The oaths of loyalty to the Abakuá society’s sacred objects, members, and secret knowledge taken by initiates are a lifelong pact which creates a sacred kinship among the members. The duties of an Abakuá member to his ritual brothers at times surpass even the responsibilities of friendship, and the phrase "Friendship is one thing, and the Abakuá another" is often heard. One of the oaths made during initiation is that one will not reveal the secrets of the Abakuá to non-members, which is why the Abakuá have remained hermetic for over 160 years.
Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla is the creator of the musical genre nuevo tango, which combines elements of classical, jazz, and traditional tango styles. This musical fusion reflects Piazzolla’s life story: the son of Italian immigrants, he spent his early childhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he heard the old tango style played in the streets; as a teenager, his family lived in New York City, where he heard the top jazz musicians of the 1930s; and as an adult, he studied classical composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, who encouraged him to remain loyal to his roots in the tango style.
Piazzolla composed “Milonga del Ángel” as part of his Ángel Series, which also includes “Muerte del Ángel” and “Resurrección del Ángel.” A milonga is a dance which uses a 3-2 clave rhythm and comes from the Rio de la Plata region, which separates Argentina and Uruguay. Piazzolla recorded “Milonga del Ángel” in 1986 as part of the album Tango: Zero Hour, which he considered his greatest recording. This arrangement is a transcription from an album recorded by accordionist Richard Galliano in 2002 called Piazzolla Forever, which commemorated the twentieth anniversary of Piazzolla’s death.
Program note from The President's Own Chamber Music Series concert 10/28/2018
With its mesmerizing style and sound, the award-winning Lorena Guillén Tango Ensemble has captivated audiences with soulful arrangements of Argentine tango standards and original compositions that create a dynamic tango and pan-Latin fusion since 2015. The musicians in the group each have rich and extensive experience in Argentine tango, jazz, classical and contemporary music, and other world and popular music styles, all of which can be heard on their two albums, Exótica Flor (2023) and The Other Side of My Heart (2018), both available on all streaming platforms.
Grand Prize winners of the Not Your Average Folk Contest (2021) and the World Music category at the NC Museum of Art (2021), the Lorena Guillén Tango Ensemble has been featured on TV performances for NC PBS channel and Fox 8 News as well as live radio programs such as WUNC’s “The State of Things” with Frank Stasio (NPR affiliate in Chapel Hill, NC), KUNM’s “Corazón Tanguero” with Cristina Baccin (NPR affiliate in Albuquerque, NM), WFDD "Triad Arts" and Radio DAMus (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
Based in North Carolina, the group has been committed to collaborations and concerts with some of the Triangle and Triad “milongas” and tango-dance organizations: “Durham-Tango” and “Alma-Tango” (WS), with which it has shared the stage on many occasions in concerts, festivals, and workshops. There has been also a continuous community engagement with the most prominent Latino organizations of the region, such as Casa Azul of Greensboro and the Hispanic League of Winston Salem. The Other Side of My Heart project reflects that commitment; an oral-history musical piece based on interviews with six Latina immigrants to NC developed by Lorena Guillén (lyricist/vocalist) and Alejandro Rutty (composer/bass player).
Over the years, the ensemble has presented its music in national and international stages: NC Folk Festival, Kleinhans Music Hall and the Calumet Arts Café in Buffalo (NY); MusicBox Theater and Folk Research Center (Saint Lucia, West Indies), Frick Museum Summer Concerts (PA), Center stage Series at the Sangre de Cristo Auditorium (CO), Winston-Salem’s annual FIESTA Festival, the Hispanic League’s “Colorful Sounds in Concert” and the Music Carolina SummerFest; in Durham for the Mallarmé Chamber Players; Triad Stage’s UpStage Cabaret, and the Music For-A- Great-Space series; at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum Summer Concert Series; Western Piedmont Symphony Concert Series, and in greater LA at Alvas Showroom, LA Harbor College and Crafton College.
Dr. Rebecca MacLeod is Professor of Music Education at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she directs the string education program and conducts the UNCG Sinfonia. She is the author of Teaching Strings in Today’s Classroom and is published in Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, String Research Journal, Psychology of Music, The Strad, American String Teachers Journal, and various state music education journals. She has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Research in Music Education, the String Research Journal, and as guest reviewer for the International Journal of Research in Music Education. She is the recipient of the UNCG School of Music, Theatre and Dance Outstanding Teaching Award, the American String Teacher Association National Researcher Award, and the UNCG Junior Research Excellence Award.
A passionate advocate for increasing access to string education to all students, Dr. MacLeod directs two community partnership programs that provide string instruction to underserved students: the Lillian Rauch Beginning Strings Program and the Peck Alumni Leadership Program. Students of these programs have performed for Dr. Maya Angelou, Dr. Gloria Ladsen-Billings, and the Sphinx Virtuosi. Her research on working with underserved populations, vibrato technique, music teacher education, and music perception has been presented at the International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition (Thessoloniki, Greece), Music Research and Human Behavior International Conference (Barcelona, Spain), International Society for Music Education (Glasgow, Scotland), Music Educators National Conference, National Association for Music Education National Conference, American String Teachers National Conference, Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Society for Music Teacher Education, and music educators state conferences.
Prior to joining the UNCG faculty, she taught elementary, middle, and high school orchestra in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania and was orchestra director and chair of music activities in Beaver, Pennsylvania. She was the assistant artistic director and conductor of the Tallahassee Symphony Youth Chamber Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra in Tallahassee, Florida. She has served on the American String Teachers Association National Board and is past president of the North Carolina ASTA chapter. She was a guest lecturer at Xi’an University and Shaoguan University (China) in summer 2016 and 2017.
Dr. MacLeod received her undergraduate degree from Duquesne University and her MME and PhD from Florida State University. She is a frequent guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States and abroad.
Heather Lofdahl is currently pursuing a PhD in Music Education at UNCG, where she was named an Excellence Fellow in 2019. Ms. Lofdahl is the Music Director of the Greensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra and assistant conductor of the UNCG Sinfonia. She also teaches private violin and viola lessons at The Music Academy of North Carolina, where she was awarded the Mary Elizabeth King Brown Teaching Excellence Award in 2014. While living in Greensboro from 2012-2015, she was the assistant conductor of the Greensboro Symphony Youth Philharmonic. She also conducted the Greensboro Symphony Youth Strings from 2019- 2021. Ms. Lofdahl has taught elementary through university orchestra students in Georgia, Illinois, and North Carolina. She serves on the faculty of the Florida State University String Orchestra Camp every summer.
Ms. Lofdahl holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music Education and Viola Performance from Augustana College and Master of Music degrees in Music Education and Viola Performance from The University of North Carolina Greensboro. She is an active guest conductor, clinician, and violist throughout the United States.