zaterdag 27 juli 19.30 Trinitatiskapel
recensie van het concert…
Duo Iago Velo & Roberto Marina
De heren van Duo Pole studeerden beiden op het conservatorium in Castilla y León. Hun liefde voor de nieuwe muziek bracht hen samen. De instrumenten altviool en gitaar werden al door Vivaldi samen gevoegd en heeft vele componisten geïnspireerd te schrijven voor deze combinatie. Het lef om op Jonge leeftijd al een eigen album te produceren maakt hen uniek. Hier te beluisteren….
Na hun gescheiden studie master (Iago in Nederland en Roberto in Belgie) en door Corona, hebben zij weer een doorstart gemaakt met het uitbreiden van hun repertoire.
Geniet vanavond van een prachtig boeket van nieuwe composities.
Duo Pole was established in 2017 by Iago Velo and Roberto Marina while they were studying together at the Conservatorio Superior de Castilla y León in Salamanca. Since its inception, the duo has been committed to bringing a unique and special contemporary classical repertoire to the public, focusing on the distinctive combination of viola and guitar.
In the artistic proposal “Almost a Concert”, Duo Pole creates a space of convergence between ancient and contemporary music. The bulk of the program consists of contemporary classical works by renowned composers such as Javier Farías, Édith Lejet, Edward McGuire, and Sebastián Wise, being this one a new composition for the duo, premiering it in the next concert in Dordrecht.
As a means of connection and with the idea of offering the listener a point of support, these pieces, or “almost songs” as French composer Édith Lejet titles her own piece (Almost a Song), are interspersed throughout the performance with four ayres by John Dowland, a pioneer in the genre of the accompanied song at the end of the 16th century. During these interludes, the audience returns to the historical idea of the formation, where the guitar, now the present-day ambassador of the lute of the era, assumes the role of accompanist while the viola, whose sonority aligns with the human voice, takes on the leading role. It is precisely this distribution of roles that the rest of the contemporary classical works in the concert seek to blur and distort.
“Almost a Concert” proposes a dialogue between ancient and contemporary music, offering the audience the opportunity to understand and enjoy a unique, fresh, and original repertoire, exploring the concept of songs, present in a large part of music history.
Roberto Marina Montero, born in 1997 in Salamanca, began his musical studies at the Sirinx music school, where Sebastián Wise was his guitar teacher for the first six years of his instrumental training. He completed his Professional Degree at the Tahonas Viejas Conservatory, where he participated in chamber projects such as the Fernando Colás Guitar Ensemble, which performed at various venues including the Liceo Theater. He then pursued his Bachelor’s Degree at the Conservatorio Superior de Castilla y León under the guidance of the award-winning guitarist Hugo Geller.
He completed his studies with Nico Couck, specializing in contemporary music, and graduated magna cum laude with a Master’s Degree in Instrumental Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, Belgium, where he continues his concert career. He has also been part of projects such as the chamber orchestra Ensemble Floros and Duo Pole, which have been featured by the City Council of Salamanca and National Radio of Spain, respectively. Additionally, he participated in the recent premiere of excerpts from The Book of Clouds, a work by Sebastián Wise, which debuted at the Botanical Center of Juzbado, Salamanca.
Iago Velo Quintairos was born in 1998 in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music and another in Pedagogy in Salamanca, followed by a Master’s degree in Music Performance at Codarts, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, under the guidance of Karin Dolman.
Currently based in Rotterdam, Iago is actively developing his skills in art and education as an independent artist. His musical goal is to develop his own unique voice on the viola and to expand the horizons of viola tradition, with a particular focus on contemporary music and the development of extended techniques. He has participated in contemporary music projects with ensembles such as Bang on a Can, New European Ensemble, and Doelenensemble, among others.
Iago also participated as a lecturer at the last two International Viola Congresses (IVC), proposing arrangements and performances based on his musical roots, creating new ways of interpreting Galician folk music in a viola duo formation with loop pedals, alongside Fernando Fresno Zarza.