"Amor de Temporada" for Strings

February 2022.

Rafael presented "The Music of Latin America & the Black Atlantic" for the Minnesota Music Educators' Association Midwinter conference. He was joined by his string faculty colleagues from Augsburg University in a lecture recital that addressed why and how to include music from Latin America in our educational repertoire, and what resources are available to assist educators access appropriate music. One of the pieces that was introduced at this session is a traditional Costa Rican pasillo, "Amor de Temporada." Rafael wrote this setting for string orchestra and has performed this arrangement on several occasions including as a guest conductor at Honor Orchestras in Minnesota. For this conference presentation, Rafael made some minor adjustments (eliminating divisi parts) for the Faculty String Quintet.