Acclaimed Russian concert pianist will premiere valuable works for piano written by Jorge Peña Hen

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The Musical Festival that pays tribute to the great composer, will offer a series of free activities in the city of La Serena. The event will run until Friday, October 19.

With great guest artists and new interventions in the city of La Serena, the Mismar Cultural Association promises to captivate attendees with the second day of the Jorge Peña Hen Musical Festival. On this occasion, the regional event will offer a wide range of free activities, including a discussion, the screening of a documentary and a symphonic piano concert, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the death of the great composer and musical arranger.

The programming corresponding to Wednesday, October 17 will begin at 12:00 p.m. with the interesting Conversation: 'Foundation of the first Children's Symphony Orchestra of Chile and Latin America. A Serene legacy of Jorge Peña Hen', which will be presented by the exhibitors Lautaro Rojas, Angélica Gallardo and Gabriel Canihuante, who will tell from their experience and knowledge the project of Jorge Peña Hen, his ideals, anecdotes that explain the great work and legacy of the teacher.

concert pianist2Later, at 16:00 p.m., the documentary 'Jorge Peña Hen, his music and his children', made by Guillermo Milla, will be shown. According to the words of the administrative director of the Association, Gonzalo Godoy, the audiovisual tape “constituted a first approach to the public regarding the work of maestro Jorge Peña Hen, recounting his vast work and narrating how, through his management, collaborators and family, the project of the first children's and youth symphony orchestra in Latin America and the founding of the Music School that today bears his name began to take shape. This legacy has endured to this day and is what we intend to spread with the holding of this Festival developed by the Mismar Cultural Association.” Both interventions will take place in the facilities of the Gabriela Mistral Regional Library (Juan Latorre #782, La Serena).

The second day will culminate in the Mecesup Hall of the Music Department of the University of La Serena, at 19:00 p.m., with the sublime concert 'Works for solo piano': Sonate (JPH a. I), Polonaise (JPH a. II) and Prelude (JPH a. V), which were written by the maestro at a very early age, demonstrating his brilliant versatility as a born creator and marking an indelible musical precedent worldwide. The presentation will be given by the prominent Russian concert pianist and assistant professor at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Chile, Svetlana Kotova, one of the most active piano performers in the country for her musicality, expressiveness, commitment to music, mastery and ductility in musical collaborations.

According to Svetlana, the program that will put the finishing touch to the second night of the Festival is made up of three piano compositions that were collected in the volume published by Mismar in 2017: “the interesting thing is that the first two were written when Jorge Peña Hen was only 17 years old. Despite using traditional language and form, it explores more contemporary melodic effects and turns; “Both the Sonata and the Polonaise show the influence of Chopin and they will be performed for the first time in public.”

In addition to these two absolute premieres, the acclaimed pianist also delved into the third work of said presentation: “this piece, unlike the previous two, is a product with its own and much more advanced language. It gives me special pleasure to be able to play this Prelude, since she had performed it for the first time at the request of the maestro's widow, Mrs. Nella Camarda, during the ceremony for the delivery of Peña Hen's archives to the National Library."

Finally, Kotova delved into the opportunity to be at such an unprecedented Festival, the first at the national level aimed at highlighting the lesser-known facet of the maestro, through extensive musicological research to rescue and recover 41 complete works, preparation of the sheet music catalogue, transcription , editing and publishing a large part of his creative work: “it is an honor and duty to participate in a cultural activity dedicated to the legacy of Jorge Peña Hen, since a musical life ended in such a tragic way deserves to be remembered endlessly. Maestro Peña built a musical world in La Serena that lives to this day, and continues to produce excellent artists who enjoy national and international prestige. It fills me with joy to be able to contribute to the dissemination of his piano work, within the framework of an event that celebrates his life and his creation.”

It should be noted that the event financed through the 2018 Music Funds, of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, and FNDR 2016 Competitive Culture Funds of the Regional Government of Coquimbo, will extend until Friday, October 19 with an attractive artistic program, in which regional groups such as the ULS String Quartet, the La Serena Wind Quintet, the ULS Vocal Ensemble and the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra stand out, which will be conducted by the young baton national, Miguel Ángel Castro.

For more information about the Jorge Peña Hen Musical Festival, just visit the page www.culturamismar.org or visit and follow the associated social networks: fanpage and twitter @culturamismar.