Francisco Cortéz-Álvarez, Former DM Student
Canta y no llores, 2012
Indiana University New Music Ensemble
David Dzubay, conductor
Performed on April 20, 2012; Auer Hall, Indiana University
Winner of the 2011 Dean's Prize Competition & Commission
"¡Ay, ay, ay! Canta y no llores porque cantando se alegran, cielito lindo, los corazones…"
-Lyrics from the Mexican traditional song "Cielito lindo" which was composed in 1885 by Quirino Mendoza.
"Sing and don't cry, heavenly one, because singing gladdens hearts", says the song. However is difficult when light is almost gone. But I sing for my country and will always keep singing to warm its heart, that is running out of hope because of each bullet, each dead, each cry that rips its soul.
This piece is a lamentation for a country which is ill, which is in pain; for a country I love and is struggling not to lose that flame that is still left. No llores includes a brief quotation of a melody taken from “Cumbia sober el Río” by Celso Piña.
No llores is the Dean's Prize commission for the New Music Ensemble of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. (Cortés-Álvarez)
Winner of the Jacob Druckman Orchestral Composition Award, Mexican composer FRANCISCO CORTÉS-ÁLVAREZ (b. 1983) received a degree in composition from the National University in Mexico studying with Gabriela Ortiz, where he was awarded the Gabino Barreda Medal, and a Master’s degree at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree. Additionally, he has been selected to attend to prestigious festivals and forums such as the Aspen Music Festival and School, Music11 at the Hindemith Music Center, the Mizzou New Music Festival, Foro Internacional de Música Nueva Manuel Enriquez, among others. He has been a fellow of the Young Creators Program and the Studies Abroad Grant given by the FONCA, and was awarded the Dean’s Prize in Composition at the Jacobs School of Music. His music has been performed in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Perú, Algeria, Germany, Switzerland and France by soloists, ensembles and orchestras such as Alarm Will Sound, Mexico’s National Symphonic Orchestra, the Aspen Sinfonia Orchestra, the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra, Indiana University’s New Music Ensemble and IU Symphonic Band, the Carlos Chávez Young Orchestra, Cassatt String Quartet, Volti Soloists Choir, and Ensamble 3, among others.