Adán Vásquez on The Washington Heights Community Conservatory of Fine Arts: "I could be the one playing the cello!"

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.

References

Find more about Adán Vásquez, ADCA and WHCCFA on clasicosdominicanos.com

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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