Corwin Chair Series Concert: Duo Contracello

Wednesday, April 27 at 7:30pm, in Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall

The Corwin Series is pleased to welcome the Portugal-Base ensemble Duo Contracello (Miguel Rocha, Adriano Aguiar). The duo will perform an evening of commissioned works for cello, double bass, and visual media by Portuguese composers Anne Victorino d’Almeida, Mariana Vieira, Jaime Reis, and University of California Santa Barbara’s own Corwin Chair and Professor of Composition João Pedro Oliveira.

This event is free and open to the public! To learn more, visit bit.ly/3OyNrct

Duo Contracello, comprising Miguel Rocha, cello and Adriano Aguiar, double bass, began its activity in 1993. Besides appearances in Portugal such as at the Festivals of Espinho, Leiria, Porto (2001 – European Capital of Culture), the Centro Cultural de Belém and Criasons 2011, it has performed in Spain, France (Festival d’Ile de France), Switzerland, USA, Czech Republic and Holland. Its repertoire, which extends from Couperin to Berio, is constantly enriched with original works dedicated to the duo. The first recording by Duo Contracello (CD NUMERICA 1055) was published at the end of 1996 with the support of the Ministry of Culture and included works by Boismortier, Pleyel, Rossini, Genzmer and A. Delgado. In 2006 a second CD, “Duo Contracello II”, was launched with works by Couperin, Keyper, Mozart, Boukinik and Carlos Azevedo. The CD “Duo Contracello III”, edited in 2015, consists entirely of works dedicated to the Duo by Portuguese composers: Sérgio Azevedo, Paulo Gomes Ferreira, António Victorino D’Almeida, Isabel Soveral and César Viana. The programme of this CD was presented in numerous concerts from the north to the south of Portugal with the support of DGartes and Musicamera Produções. In the last few years Duo Contracello has developed a project entitled “Seeing Sounds, Hearing Images” which it has presented in various performances, most notably in the Festival COMA’15 in Madrid and at Bass 16 in Prague, and which received financial support from Portugal-Culture through DGartes and Musicamera Produções and also from the GDA Foundation. This support, managed by Musicamera Produções, has already facilitated the realisation of concerts in Portugal, Holland and Spain. The music involved in this project is provided by the following composers: ngela Lopes, António Chagas Rosa, Clotilde Rosa, Isabel Soveral, Jaime Reis e João Pedro Oliveira. To accompany these works, videos were created by Maria Irene Aparício, João Pedro Oliveira, Inês Soares and Gabriel Marmelo. The project concluded with CD and DVD recordings; the CD being launched in 2019 under the title, “Duo Contracello IV”, and the DVD, at the end of January 2020 under the title, “Seeing Sounds, Hearing Images I”. Duo Contracello and Musicamera Produções will continue the project “Seeing Sounds, Hearing Images”, now in second edition, with commissions from six composers: João Pedro Oliveira, Jaime Reis, Mariana Vieira, Cândido Lima, Anne Victorino D’Almeida and Christopher Bochmann and the video artists: João Pedro Oliveira, Maria Irene Aparício, Marinne Harlé, Daniel Rondulha, Emanuel Pimenta and João Pedro Fonseca. In April of this year Duo Contracello will be making a tour in the USA, with presentations at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), University of California (Santa Barbara) and the California State University Northridge.