Arturo Marquez: "Conga del Fuego Nuevo"
Conga del Fuego Nuevo (Conga of the New Fire)
Arturo Marquez
Born: December 20, 1950, Álamos, Mexico
Original Instrumentation: Symphony Orchestra
Composed: 2009
Arranged: 2011, Oliver Nickel
Duration: 5 minutes
University of Maryland Wind Ensemble
Friday, December 9, 2016, 8:00 pm
Elsie & Marvin Dekelboum Concert Hall
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
The University of Maryland at College Park
Márquez was born in Sonora, Mexico in 1950. In his late childhood, he emigrated with his family to La Puente in the Los Angeles area, where he undertook piano, trombone, and violin studies. Later, he moved to Mexico City to study composition at the National Conservatory of Mexico, to Paris for further compositional studies, and to Los Angeles to complete graduate studies at Cal Arts. He currently resides in Mexico City, where he works as a professor and sought-after composer.
The Conga del Fuego Nuevo (Conga of the New Fire) is inspired by the Afro-Cuban conga. Márquez’s take on the popular style is characterized by memorable tunes and exciting build-ups. His fascination with Caribbean music goes beyond the Conga and he has written over eight danzóns, the second of which is doubtlessly the most popular among them.
Arturo Marquez, Conga del Fuego Nuevo, arr. Oliver Nickel
Landwehr Fribourg, Isabelle Ruf-Weber, conductor
Arturo Marquez, Conga del Fuego Nuevo
Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, Gustavo Dudamel, conductor