Conceived by performer, composer, and American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*) member Keir GoGwilt, Zarabanda Variations brings together a group of visionary composers, performers, and poets in a surprising and vibrant synthesis of Baroque, folkloric, and contemporary music of the American hemisphere. The members of the ensemble work across genres including traditional Mariachi and Baroque music, improvisation collectives in Mexico City and New York, and contemporary composition, creating new songs and dances inspired by the eclecticism of the zarabanda: a dance with Spanish, pre-Columbian American, and African origin stories. Woven in with the music is the poetry of Edgar Garcia, whose work maps the emergence of the Baroque through scenes of colonial and contemporary translation, emergency, and migration. Zarabanda Variations celebrates its New York debut at Lincoln Center.

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“Zarabanda Variations” – Run AMOC

Lincoln Center

Conceived by AMOC* violinist Keir GoGwilt, Zarabanda Variations brings together a group of visionary composers, improvisers, and performers to draw inspiration from the musical histories of 16th- and 17th-century New Spain/Mexico. The zarabanda is a dance with supposed Spanish, American, and Arab origins, plausibly named from the Bantu “nsala-banda,” which eventually transformed into a courtly dance of the European baroque. Zarabanda Variations explores the archival gaps of early American music, creating a surprising and vibrant synthesis of European and LatinBaroque, folk, and contemporary musical traditions.

AMOC* presentation at Peabody Essex Museum of “Zarabanda Variations”

East India Square

For decades, baritone Thomas Buckner has dedicated himself to the promotion and performance of new and improvised music, collaborating with a host of new music luminaries including Robert Ashley, Noah Creshevsky, Tom Hamilton, Earl Howard, Matthias Kaul, Leroy Jenkins, Bun Ching Lam, Annea Lockwood, Roscoe Mitchell, Phill Niblock, Wadada Leo Smith, Chinary Ung, Christian Wolff and many others.Buckner has appeared at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Herbst Theatre, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Berlin Spring Festival, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival the, the Prague Spring Festival, and the Angelica Festival of Bologna. He is featured on over 50 recordings, including 6 solo albums, the most recent being “New Music for Baritone & Chamber Ensemble,” which includes works by Annea Lockwood, Tania Leon, and Petr Kotik. Buckner also appears in the CD/DVD “Kirili et le Nymphéas (Hommage à Monet)” filmed at the Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, which hoses the Monet’s celebrated Water lilies murals.For the past twenty-eight years Thomas Buckner has curated the Interpretations series in New York City, and continues to produce recordings on the Mutable Music label, introducing current artists and repertoire, as well as presenting important historic material, previously unavailable in CD format.

Kyle Motl

Events

Past events

Jul 2, 2025

“Zarabanda Variations” – Run AMOC · AMOC / American Modern Opera Company

May 11, 2025

AMOC* presentation at Peabody Essex Museum of “Zarabanda Variations” · AMOC / American Modern Opera Company

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