IU's Latin American Popular Music Ensemble celebrates 20th anniversary

As part of its 20th anniversary celebration, the IU Latin American Popular Music Ensemble performed with guest saxophonist and multi Grammy-nominee David Sánchez. This special concert took place on October 21 2004 at the Buskirk- Chumley Theater and was jointly sponsored by the IU Jazz Department, IU Latin American Music Center and Jazz from Bloomington.

The Latin American Popular Music Ensemble, lead by Visiting Director Ricardo Lorenz will showcase a variety of Latin American music genres, from a Puerto Rican folkloric bomba to an Afro-Brazilian lundu. The guest appearance of David Sánchez, whose latest CD release Coral has been described by critics as “a necessity for any jazz or classical record collection," will highlight the ensemble’s emphasis on repertoire that pushes the boundaries of Latin popular music .

The Latin American Popular Music Ensemble has evolved in several stages to become now the first academic offering at Indiana University where students can explore the intricacies and creative achievements of Latin American Popular Music, which now influence both concert and popular music of the whole world. It was initiated in 1985 with the support of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and his visionary director Russell Salmon, as a student-led project conceived by Mariano Morales, at that time a graduate student in jazz studies, and today one of Puerto Rico's foremost composers. Morales led the group as a Latin big band that performed virtuoso Afro-Caribbean arrangements and established a regular presence of the Latin beat in the University community. After Mariano's departure from campus, percussionist Andrew Lázaro took the leadership of the ensemble in 1994, when it became an official ensemble of the School of Music under the sponsorship of the Latin American Music Center led by Carmen Téllez. Lázaro transformed the ensemble into a more intimate Latin jazz combo to explore sophisticated arrangements.

In 1998, the Assistant Director of the Latin American Music Center, composer Gerardo Dirié, expanded the make-up and repertoire of the ensemble through the wider spectrum of genres including folk and urban traditions from Brazil, Argentina and the Andes, as well as chamber works from major Latin American composers such as Ginastera, Villa-Lobos and Orrego-Salas. Today, during Dirié's leave of absence, the ensemble is directed by Visiting Faculty Ricardo Lorenz, an internationally recognized composer, who joins us from leading the pioneering Latin American outreach music program of the famous Chicago Symphony. Under his leadership the ensemble has continued to grow in virtuosity, excitement and sophistication to higher levels, as Latin music is recognized as a major force in American music of our time.