Teachers

The Barcelona Festival of Song is proud to have among their faculty some of the most important and internationally renowned scholars, researchers, teachers, and performers of the Latin American and Spanish Art Song genre. Most of the teachers are natives, meaning they are from Latin-America or Spain and know in dept the culture and music of their own regions of origin.

The director of the festival, soprano, musicologist and physician Dr. Patricia Caicedo is recognized as a pioneer in the research, study and performance of the Latin-American and Iberian Art Song, having published several books, CDs and maintaining a very active international concert and teaching career. You can learn about her in www.patriciacaicedo.com

Dr. Caicedo is in charge of inviting a group of experts in different subjects related with the study of the history and interpretation of the Iberian and Latin-American repertoire. During her 8 years of existence the Barcelona Festival of Song have had as teachers some of the most important interpreters and researchers of the Latin-American and Spanish Art Song gener worldwide.

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Participants to the Barcelona Festival of Song can be sure they work with the best experts in the field. In addition all diction classes are thought by native speakers.

FACULTY 2011-2012

VOICE

Patricia Caicedo, soprano (Colombia/España)

Recognized as “The Voice of the Latin American and Spanish Art Song” and often described as its ambassador, Colombian-Spanish soprano and musicologist Patricia Caicedo positioned herself as a leading interpreter of the Latin American and Spanish vocal repertory and has sung in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russian, Puerto Rico and Latin-America to public and critical acclaim.

Singing in Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Quechua and Nahuatl she draws listeners into the world of beauty, poetry, and warmth that is the Latin American & Spanish Art Song – a world that continues to thrive because of her determination to ensure its future. As one reviewer noted, “Reflecting her deep emotional connection to the music, she interprets the repertory with extraordinary sensitivity and sweetness.”

She has recorded five CDs dedicated to the Latin American Art Song --"Aves y Ensueños - Colombian Art Songs by Jaime León" (2011), "Estrela é Lua nova..." (2011), -"De mi corazón latino" (2010),  “To My Native City” (2005) and “ Lied:Art Songs of Latin America” (2001)-- has collaborated on other CDs. All are available for purchase on this website.

As a musicologist and teacher Caicedo is internationally recognized as the leading expert in the study and performance of the Latin American & Spanish art song, a tradition she has almost single-handedly rescued from extinction. Her pioneering books The Latin American Art Song: A Critical Anthology and Interpretive Guide for Singers and The Colombian Art Song - Jaime León: Analysis and Compilation of his works for voice & piano Vol.1 & 2. are consider reference books in the field.  Patricia´s articles about Latin-American Art Song have appear in VoicePrints and the Latin-American Music Review.

She is the founder and artistic director of the Barcelona Festival of Song, a Summer Program and concert series focused on the study of the history and interpretation of the Latin American & Spanish Art Song repertoire, an event that will be reaching its 8th edition in 2012.

Since 2008 on Caicedo was included in the Who's Who in America. Published by Marquis Who's Who is the leading biographical reference publisher of the highest achievers and contributors from across the country and around the world. The inclusion of Ms. Caicedo represents a tribute to her discipline and hard work as an advocate of the Latin American and Spanish Music. Since 2010 Patricia is included in the Who's Who in American Womenand Who´s Who in the World.

Lenine Santos (Brazil)

Dr.Lenine Santos was born in Brasília, Brazil and is considered one of the best interpreters of Brazilian music. He finished his PhD in Music at São Paulo State University – UNESP – focusing his dissertation on Brazilian Chamber Music. He began his musical career at a very young age with the String Orchestra of SESI, studying violin. Later on, he entered the Brasília School of Music where he studied voice technique. He also took classes at the University of Campinas – UNICAMP – in the State of São Paulo with the well known singer Niza de Castro Tank.

The Municipal Theatre of São Paulo saw his début as Beppe in the opera I Pagliacci, by Leoncavallo, and since then he has been building a professional career singing in opera, recitals, oratorios and cantatas. He received prizes and honorable mentions in several competitions such as that of Carlos Gomes, Canto de Barra Bonita, and Maria Callas. In 1998 Lenine Santos recorded “XX Compositores Brasileiros”, his first CD dedicated exclusively to Brazilian song. In 2005 and 2010, he recorded “Caipira” and “Mais Caipira” with singer Suzana Salles and guitar player Ivan Vilela, in which they interpret Brazilian popular songs. Continuing his extensive work on Brazilian music, Lenine participated in the recording and reedition of Antônio Carlos Gomes’ songs in 2006, resulting in a new CD entitled “Minhas Pobres Canções”, and recorded in 2007 the CD “Canção”.

José Oliveira, tenor (Portugal)

PIANO

Max Lifchtz (Mexico/USA)

Max Lifchitz (b. México 1948) is a classical pianist, composer and conductor. He was born and grew up in Mexico City. Following one year of study in Mexico, he came to the United States in 1966 and studied at the Juilliard School, Harvard University and the University of Michigan.

In 1980, he founded the North/South Consonance Ensemble which is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music from tthe Americas. He serves as the ensemble's director. He has served on the faculty of Columbia University, University of Albany, the State University of New York.

He has performed frequently in Latin America and is the executor of the estate of Mexican composer Carlos Chavez. Since 2007 Lifchtz serves as accompanist at the Barcelona Festival of Song.

Donna Loewy (USA)

Donna Hallen Loewy is Field Service Professor of Accompanying and Accompanist-in-Residence at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Ms. Loewy has prepared and accompanied many top prize winners of the National Federation of Music Clubs Artist Competition, NATS Artist Awards, D'Angelo Competition and the Montreal Concours International de Musique. She is much in demand as a collaborative pianist and master class teacher, performing frequently throughout the United States.

Ms. Loewy is the official accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Southern Ohio region, and has held similar positions with the International Clarinet Conference, the Congress of Strings, the International Double Reed Society, the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Winners Recital, Tubamania in Sydney, Australia, and the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference. Donna has worked as an opera coach with the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy, the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari, Italy, Cincinnati Opera and Dayton Opera. Ms. Loewy coached vocal chamber music for the Grandin Festival in Cincinnati yearly and was Chamber Music Coordinator for the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy.  In the summer of 2010, she was a faculty coach and pianist at SongFest at Pepperdine in Malibu, CA.

With tenor Daniel Weeks, Donna was presented by the Marilyn Horne Foundation (MHF) in recitals and residencies at the Kosciusko Foundation in New York, the Cleveland Art Song Festival, the Mozart Society of Carmel, California, and various venues in Louisiana, Florida, and Indiana

In 2005, baritone Andrew Garland and Ms. Loewy presented their first concert of Living American Composers for the Marilyn Horne Foundation in New York. Since then, they have performed at Carnegie Hall, the Phillips Collection and the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, Art Song of Williamsburg, Fanfare in Louisiana, the Huntsville Chamber Music Society, Meng Concert Hall in Fullerton, CA, The Modern at Fort Worth, the Cerritos Center in Cerritos, CA., the Andre Turp Society in Montreal, St. Stephens College in Pennsylvania and other venues. Composers who have been featured include: Tom Cipullo, David Conte, Jake Heggie, Lee Hoiby, Steven Mark Kohn, Lori Laitman, Thomas Pasatieri, Stephen Paulus, and Jeffrey Wood. Mr. Garland and Ms. Loewy’s recording of On the Other Shore, which includes all of the folk song settings of Steven Mark Kohn has garnered much praise.

Ms. Loewy is the voice consultant and co-author of the Inner Game of Music Vocal Workbook, written with Barry Green, author of the Inner Game of Music. CCM Faculty since 1976.

GUITAR

José Lezcano (Cuba/USA)

Described by the New Millennium Guitar Magazine as "a superb guitarist as well as a first-rate composer and arranger" José Manuel Lezcano has captivated audiences on four continents. His programs featuring traditional and Latin American repertory, and his own original compositions have taken him as recitalist, collaborative musician, and concerto soloist from Carnegie Recital Hall and the North-South Consonance Series in New York City to major venues and festivals in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic and Germany.

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1960, Lezcano was invited to join the faculty of Keene State College in New Hampshire in 1991, where he is Professor of Music and teaches courses in guitar, music theory, and Latin American music; he directs the Guitar Orchestra and Latin American ensemble. He earned degrees from Peabody Conservatory (BM), University of South Carolina (MM), and Florida State University (Ph.d. music theory) where his teachers included Aaron Shearer and Christopher Berg. He also participated in master classes taught by Michael Lorimer, Sharon Isbin, and Leo Brouwer the noted Cuban guitarist and composer who referred to him as "a magnificent guitarist -un guitarista magnifico."

Dr. Lezcano's own Guitar Concerto (2004), which he premiered in New York City as soloist with the North-South Consonance Chamber Orchestra directed by Max Lifchitz, has received critical acclaim after release on the North-South label in 2007 as "Remembrances/Recuerdos." Fanfare Magazine wrote, "Colorfully scored ... agreeable music, and dashingly performed by the composer."  In September, 2008, Dr. Lezcano performed his concerto with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Peru. He has also performed it with orchestras in Ecuador, Colombia, and New Hampshire.

Dr. Lezcano's works include two additional concerti, a song cycle, a choral suite, chamber music, and solos, written in an eclectic, expressive, but accessible language that is praised for "energy" and "soaring melodies" (Flute Talk). His chamber works with guitar, published by Alry and Tuscany, have been performed by major artists including Ricardo Cobo, Antigoni Goni, Duo Fresco, the Alturas Duo, and William Bennet. A recent CD by Ms. Goni, "Songs from the New Village," on Koch International, includes José's Sonatina Tropical.

José has earned numerous awards, including first prize in the MTNA National Guitar Competition, the NH State Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, NHMTA Composer of the Year (2002 & 07), KSC Distinguished Research Award, and a Fulbright Award to Ecuador where he performed as orchestral soloist and pursued research on indigenous guitar traditions. Jose's scholarly publications include Latin American Music Review. Dr. Lezcano have been part of the faculty of the Barcelona Festival of Song since 2008.

MUSICOLOGY

Dr. Craig Russell (USA)

Craig Russell received his bachelor's and master's degrees in guitar and lute performance at the University of New Mexico under the guidance of Hector A. Garcia. After completing his Ph.D. in historical musicology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982, he obtained a position at Cal Poly where he is presently a professor of music. He was one of two recipients in 1994-95 who were chosen from the 22 California State University campuses to receive the California State University Trustees' Outstanding Professor Award-CSU's highest honor. He was the sole professor selected as the 1994-95 recipient of the Outstanding Professor Award at Cal Poly. He speaks often at musicological conferences and conventions in North America, Mexico, and Spain and has published over forty articles on eighteenth-century Hispanic studies, Mexican Cathedral music, the California Missions, baroque guitar music, and American popular culture.

His large two-volume book, Santiago de Murcia's "Codice Saldivar No.4": A Treasury of Secular Guitar Music From Baroque Mexico was published in the summer of 1995 by the University of Illinois Press, and his latest book "From Serra to Sancho: Music and Pageantry in the California Missions" was released in summer 2009 by Oxford University Press. He has received major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Commission, Spain's Ministry of Culture, the Program for Cultural Cooperation, the California Council for the Humanities, and the Edmund Cabot Memorial Fund.

Dr. Russell's Concierto Romantico for guitar and orchestra was premiered in February, 1992, and a compact disk of the work has received enthusiastic reviews in Soundboard, New Times, the Eugene Register Guard, the LA Times, and the American Record Guide and has been performed everywhere from the Krakow Festival to the Oregon Bach Festival. His compositional activities embrace several different areas: he has composed two musical comedies (Zapatera! and It's a Man's World-Or Is It?), two symphonies, a piano concerto, a bass concerto, numerous chamber pieces and several solo guitar works.

Patricia Caicedo, soprano (Colombia/España)

SPANISH DICTION for SINGERS

Patricia Caicedo (Colombia/Spain)

CATALAN DICTION

Meritxell Rifa (Catalunya)

PORTUGUESE DICTION

Lenine Santos (Brazil)

BODY AWARENESS

Ines Salpico (Portugal)

Librarians Biblioteca Catalunya

Margarida Ullate

Rosa Montals