EL PIANO LLANERO:

A New Vision of the Traditional Joropo Music from Venezuela and Colombia

After years of research into the roots of Colombian and Venezuelan Music, pianist Claudia Calderón has produced a collection of the best pieces of traditional harp and bandola folklore from los Llanos, the great plains of the Orinoco Basin and the Valley of the Tuy River. This music, traditionally known as "Joropo", combined with other genres from the Colombian Andes, creates an exquisite piano repertoire, revealing an unexpectedly high degree of musical discourse. This repertoire of brilliant pieces is full of delightful hints of Spanish Baroque harpsichord music, set in the most powerful rhythmic context. Claudia Calderón has carefully transcribed the original Andean and llanero pieces for her instrument and her ensemble, seeking the highest musical fidelity to achieve a perfect rendering of these fascinating sources of unique world music onstage, worldwide.

The Chamber Music combination of piano and traditional Colombian and Venezuelan instruments is a breakthrough, bringing the sounds from los Llanos, the great plains and mountains north of the Amazon Basin to a universal concert format. This show, in which Claudia Calderón and her amazing guests make us discover a variety of music, is also a strong cultural statement. By combining the familiar voices of Piano and Double Bass with the surprisingly colorful performance of the Maracas, the Venezuelan Cuatro (small four-stringed guitar) and the Colombian Tiple (metal twelve-stringed guitar), the group reveals the profound musical and cultural universe spanning from the the Eastern tip of the Venezuelan Coast to the Southernmost parts of the colossal Colombian Andes; a great geographical arc which is full of musical surprises for world audiences.

The Andean ingredient gives an appropriate stylistic complement to the fiery music of the Llanos, introducing the fresh and relaxing sounds of the mountain guitar, the tiple, gently strumming the delicate forms of Colombian melodies. It is the realm of Bambuco, Pasillo, Joropo and Vals; an ancient musical tradition shared by Colombia and Venezuela. Piano Llanero brings these powerful forces together, and helps us enjoy a clear and authentic show of these relatively unknown but incredibly expressive families of Latin American music.

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