Submitted photo Diego Barbosa-Vasquez brings a diverse program of music to the Columbus Symphony Orchestra opener.
Diego Barbosa-Vasquez will share a deep sense of who he is Sunday afternoon when he helps the Columbus Symphony Orchestra kick off its new season “A Music Director Search Year.”
The Columbian native will lead the volunteer ensemble in Lucho Bermudez’s uber-energetic 1994 piece “Colombia Tierra Querida,” rich with enough samba and salsa rhythms that the audience might just get up and dance at The Commons downtown.
“This orchestra really does an amazing job with this piece,” Barbosa-Vasquez said, speaking by phone from Bloomington, where he finished his doctoral music work at Indiana University in May.
He currently is serving as music director of the Americas Chamber Orchestra.
The first of five maestro candidates to replace Josh Aerie after eight seasons brings a program “Echoes of the World” of cultural identity — one that seems tailor-made just after the popular, local Ethnic Expo international festival days ago. Besides the composition from his home country, there will be a work from composers from India, Mexico and Russia, courtesy of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Plus, the mostly volunteer ensemble will celebrate the life of one of its own veteran members, longtime bassist and Columbus native Andy Saurer, who died last month. Besides being known for his excellence with the orchestra and his own jazz and related ensembles through the years, he was lauded for his joy and laughter among numerous musicians and performers.
Orchestra members have decided to perform Ronald W. Follas’ “Variations on a Quaker Hymn” in honor of the Quaker Saurer.
Otherwise, though, Barbosa-Vasquez wants the audience to connect with composers’ grappling with identity and more.
“This is about coming to an understanding of who we are, and our culture and our roots,” the guest conductor said.
Musical ensembles must understand that they are agents or emissaries of engendering that understanding, as he sees it.
“In orchestras, we have to ask ourselves, ‘How might we be alienating people if we don’t fully allow all people to be represented in our music?” he asked. “We have to create a better way of representing who we are as a community. Because I believe the job of any orchestra is to represent its people and its community.”
Barbosa-Vasquez does far more than discuss the subject. He is a scholar of the prestigious Ostrom Workshop (of Economic Nobel Prize winners scholars), where he leads advanced international, practical research in opera and performing arts sustainability.
Music, he believes, can help people grapple with who they are are — and who they are becoming. He points to great composers such as Tchaikovsky wrestling with this. And Barbosa-Vasquez sometimes sounds more like a sociologist than a musician.
“Each of us must understand our roots, but also how we are evolving as a person,” he said.
About the concert
Who: Columbus Symphony Orchestra, led by guest conductor Diego Barbosa-Vasquez.
When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Where: The Commons, 300 Washington St. in downtown Columbus.
Information and tickets: csoindiana.org
