[Mus-undergrad-info] Bayz Music Series, Tomorrow @Noon, 5/20: "The Songs of Pedro Ximénez Abril Tirado" (Rafael Montero, tenor, and John Sloboda, piano)

[Amy Skjerseth]

*2025–2026 Florence Bayz Music Series*
*The Songs of Pedro Ximénez Abril Tirado*
Rafael Montero (tenor) and John Sloboda (piano)
May 20, 12–12:50pm, ARTS 157

[image: image.png]
*Pedro Ximénez Abril y Tirado was one of Latin America’s most successful
and prolific composers of the early 19th century, whose work spanned the
critical period of the establishment of independent Latin American states
in the period after the end of the Spanish Empire. Known at the time as “El
sinfonista de los Andes,” he learned his craft during the colonial years,
but he was able to contribute to the body of early postcolonial repertoire.
In the 20th century his work fell from view. It is only now, with the
greater interest in postcolonial studies and the rehabilitation of
indigenous musics, that his work has begun to receive scholarly and
artistic attention. His music exemplifies the cosmopolitanism and cultural
mobility that were an important strand in the establishment of a
distinctive Latin American cultural life. At the peak of his career, he
occupied a prestigious position as director of music at Sucre Cathedral,
the most important cultural and religious city of the newly created state
of Bolivia, under the direct patronage of President Andrés de Santa Cruz.*

*These secular songs exemplify his cosmopolitanism in both words and music.
He set to music South American poets like Esteban Echeverría and Manuel
Martínez, from Argentina and Mexico respectively, who took their
inspiration from the culture in which they were living, working in the
neoclassical and Romantic poetic styles. The music also shows stylistic
variety. While the predominant style draws on European models (with
similarities to Mozart, Haydn, and Bellini), there are also strong
indigenous influences in some, particularly in a set of “Jaravi,” songs
drawing on the ancient traditional genre of Andean music and indigenous
lyric poetry. At a time when the impetus to de-privilege the European
classical canon grows ever stronger, Ximénez is a neglected composer of the
highest quality whose works deserve wide contemporary exposure and
integration into the corpus of established art songs. This recital will
offer a selection from the more than 300 songs now discovered and gradually
being transcribed and edited for contemporary performance.*

*Rafael Montero* is an Argentinian solo tenor and ensemble singer, singing
teacher, and coach. He is founder and artistic director of El Parnaso
Hyspano early-music ensemble.  Rafael’s heritage is native American and
Spanish, and he has spoken Quechua since he was a child. He studied singing
at the Conservatorio Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, and then early and
chamber music at the Conservatoire de Musique de Neuchatel, Switzerland.
In 2022 he sang the title role in the U.K. premiere of Domenico Zipoli’s *San
Ignacio de Loyola*, a Baroque opera written for the indigenous people from
whom he is descended.

*John Sloboda*, OBE, FBA, is a singer, pianist, conductor, and researcher.
He is currently Assistant Conductor of Chorus of Dissent, a community choir
based in Hackney, London. He trained as a pianist with Else Cross and has
specialized in accompanying, currently working with the tenor Rafael
Montero. He is also a music psychologist, as well as Emeritus Professor at
both the University of Keele and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama,
where his recent interests have been the psychology of the live concert and
the social benefits of music engagement. He is the author of several books
and over 200 academic papers.

Spread the word to your students and friends; Bayz series events are free
and open to the public. For more information about this event and the event
series, please see the attached program, and visit
https://events.ucr.edu/event/Rafael-Montero-and-John-Sloboda?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=UC+Riverside
.

See you tomorrow!
Amy (Bayz series coordinator)
*Dr. Amy Skjerseth* (*she/her*)
Assistant Professor of Popular Music
University of California, Riverside

Book out September 2026: *Preprogrammed: How Electronic Presets Changed
Music and Media <https://www.ucpress.edu/books/preprogrammed/paper>*

PI, "Defying Defaults in Technology and Culture
<https://uchri.org/awards/defying-defaults-in-technology-and-culture/>,"
UCHRI Multicampus Research Working Group

*I sometimes send emails outside of traditional working hours, but I do not
expect a response outside of your own.*
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