School of Music

White Pine Music Releases

Moyugba Orisha

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Gabriel Cabezas, violin
Alexandra Mascolo-David, piano

Juan-Miguel Hernandez, viola
Rúbia Santos, piano

Every year the Sphinx Competition, held in Detroit, offers young Black and Latino classical string players a chance to compete under the guidance of an internationally renowned panel of judges and to perform with established professional musicians in an encouraging setting.

Cabezas, a cellist from the Chicago area, is the First Prize Laureate of the Junior Division of the 2006 Sphinx National Competition. Hernandez, the Gold Achievement winner of the Senior Division, is a native of Montreal, Canada and the violist for the Harlem Quartet.

Moyugba Orisha is a musical rendition of the way that culture can be expressed through music. Many of the pieces such as "La Revuelta Circular," have Latin roots. The composer, Claudia Calderón, describes this piece as "the resonance of sounds from ethnic harps," combining cultures from Madagascar and the central regions of Venezuela.

Several of the recordings are world premieres, including the title work and Japanese-American composer Paul Chihara's Sonata for Viola and Piano. Accompanying Cabezas and Hernandez on the release are CMU faculty members Alexandra Mascolo-David and Rúbia Santos. Both pianists contribute culturally to the album, Mascolo-David hailing from Portugual and Santos from Brazil.

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