'Folk Classics Across the Globe'

Cultural diversity can bring people together in unique ways. In fact, it is so important that UNESCO has celebrated a World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development every May 21 since 2002.

One way in which the richness of different cultures can be experienced is through their folk music. Many composers have looked to folk tunes, styles and instruments for inspiration. They include Antonin Dvořák, Ludwig van Beethoven, Bedrich Smetana, Edvard Grieg, Johannes Brahms, Mikhail Glinka and Bela Bartok. But these composers died long ago. What about folk music today?

In this program, we explore classical pieces inspired by folk music from composers and cultures that have often existed on the fringes of the classical canon. You’ll hear three world premieres of folk music recorded live in the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio at Minnesota Public Radio’s headquarters in St. Paul. The pieces have been recorded by five guest musicians from those cultures who will tell us more about the music in the program.

Listen now to Folk Classics Across the Globe, from American Public Media.

Playlist

• Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water — Maria Thompson Corley, piano

• Gabriela Lena Frank: Tarqueada, from Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout — Del Sol String Quartet

• Carlos Bonnet (arr. Alfonso Lopez Chollett): Quitapesares — Jesús Guzman Fajardo, violin; Inés Guanchez Mercado, piano

• Chen Yi: Muqam: Fierily, from Chinese Folk Dance Suite for Violin and Orchestra — Cho-Liang Lin, violin; Lan Shui, conductor; Singapore Symphony Orchestra 

• Aida Isakova: Sivka-Burka, Kolobok, Baba Yaga, Sleeping Tsarevna and By the Will of the Pike, from Skazki — Osip Nikiforov, piano

• Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate: Chokfi' — Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, conductor; members of the San Francisco Symphony

• Setareh Shafii: From One Land to the Other — Niloofar Sohi, viola; Jordan Buchholtz, piano

• Sérgio Assad: Cuca, from Três Lendas Brasileiras — Vivi Vassileva, vibraphone; Lucas Campara Diniz, guitar

About the Artists

Pianist Osip Nikiforov has studied under the tutelage of Yefim Bronfman at Manhattan School of Music, Jon Kimura Parker at Rice University and Alexander Braginsky at the University of Minnesota. He was the third-prize winner of the 2016 San Antonio International Piano Competition and is regularly invited to perform at concert series and festivals, including the Schubert Club Courtroom Concert Series, the Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series and the Mozart Festival Texas. He has frequently collaborated with international orchestras, including the St. Petersburg Capella Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. He also has appeared on Minnesota Public Radio, WFMT Radio, and GetClassical, and in the Star Tribune and Houston Press. In 2021, his first piano album, Russian Elegie, was released on all digital platforms.

Born in Venezuela, Jesus Guzman Fajardo began studying violin in the National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela, also known as El Sistema. He then continued his studies at the Simon Bolivar Conservatory of Music and the Latin American Violin Academy in Caracas. He spent five years as a first violin of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela under conductors Gustavo Dudamel and Diego Matheuz. He also has been a featured soloist and toured with various orchestras internationally, performing under conductors such as Simon Rattle, Maxime Pascal, Christian Vasquez and Dick Van Gasteren. He teaches at the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies and the Harmony program in Riverview West School of Excellence.

Inés Guanchez Mercado is a Venezuelan pianist based in Minnesota. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota, where she studied with professor Alexander Braginsky. She has performed as a soloist with the Costa Rica Symphony Orchestra and the Perugia Music Fest Orchestra, and has performed solo and chamber events in Costa Rica, Panama, the United States, France, Italy and Russia. She also has placed in international and national competitions, including the Costa Rican Young Soloists Competition and the Fourth Stanislaw Moniuszko International Slavic Music Competition. Her focus as a musician revolves around programming music written by composers outside of the classical canon, specifically women and Latin Americans.

Born and raised in Tehran, Niloofar Sohi is an Iranian musician and violist based in Minneapolis. A doctoral candidate in viola performance at the University of Minnesota, she is the winner of the 10th National Youth Music Festival and former violist of the Shahrzad Ensemble. she has experience working with various American, European and Iranian orchestras, including the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, Puccini Festival Orchestra, Tehran Symphony Orchestra and Mississippi Valley Orchestra. She is a co-founder of LyreIran, a collaborative focusing on promoting string-related performance and educational content, holding free master classes and workshops with great pedagogues and musicians to make music education accessible for everyone, especially Middle Easterners.

Jordan Buchholtz is a pianist, accompanist, teacher and writer. As an active performer, she regularly plays in solo piano and chamber music recitals and collaborates with both vocalists and instrumentalists. She enjoys being involved in chamber music ensembles and opera productions, and writing music reviews for KCMetropolis. She is pursuing a master’s degree in piano performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and holds a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Along with her graduate studies, she is an instructor for keyboard skills classes and applied piano lessons. 

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