Identity Duets

virtual concert

About This Project

The pandemic has meant that we have been unable to present our music in our usual fashion. Instead, we met with six composers all originally from Puerto Rico, but many now living in the continental USA, to craft a program that would lend itself to being presented online. Our composers met together in August to discuss with us what they most wanted to express in this moment of crisis, and it was perhaps no surprise that the theme of identity emerged as a fundamental preoccupation.

The following concert presents six new world premieres featuring the Victory Players, two at a time. Each piece allows us a new perspective, affords us a new connection, and perhaps renewed and increased understanding.

El Puerto Rico, the Rich Port, is inspired by the rich history and culture of the island of Puerto Rico. In the 15th century, it was a key part of New Spain, and following the Spanish-American war of 1898, a possession of the United States. Since the Jones Act of 1917, the island’s citizens have been US citizens and the island is a US territory. This unique past means that music from Puerto Rico has some of the longest, if not the longest continuous tradition in the United States. Along with distant roots of the indiginous Taíno, the Afro-Carribean inflected music continues to be an important voice in the musical fabric of the United States.