We talk with Adán Vásquez, executive and artistic director of the Association of Dominican Classical Artists and the Washington Heights Community Conservatory of Fine Arts, a unique free classical and folk music education program for the youth of Upper Manhattan. Adán Vásquez, a harpist, is an educator, an acclaimed classical musician, and a community activist. He talks about making Latin American and European classical music and Latin American folk music accessible to low-income young people of color, and the role of performing arts in transforming children’s lives and community building. We listen to excerpts of students playing Carabine by Julio Alberto Hernández and the Conservatory faculty (“La Camerata Washington Heights”) performing Migraciones by Servio R. Reyes.
Overview
00:00-01:25 Intros
01:26-05:13 Association of Dominican Classical Artists
05:14-08:56 Latin American classical music
08:57-11:55 Conservatory: Why children come and stay
11:56-14:07 Conservatory curriculum
14:08-16:08 Julio Roberto Hernandez and Carabiner
16:09-18:14 Conservatory goals
18:15-20:16 Paulos; African musical roots
20:17-21:41 Performing arts and social change
21:42-31:33 Outro
Transcription
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