South America and Wales are united in global collaboration
THERE will be a rare chance this month to witness a thrilling global collaboration, combining the Welsh tradition of harp music with Latin American rhythms.
Back in 2007, Welsh harpist Catrin Finch met with Colombian joropo band Cimarrón and embarked on an exhilarating tour of Wales, a collaboration repeated in 2009 and 2010.
Ten years later, Catrin and Cimarrón meet again to tour the UK, with Caernarfon and Aberystwyth among their ports of call.
Catrin Finch, former official harpist to the Prince of Wales, is a remarkable and fearless artiste, and is one of the world’s leading harp players, whose career has featured both solo performances with the world’s top orchestras, and collaborations with some of the leading world music artists.
These include Toumani Diabate and, most successfully, Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita.
The six-piece Grammy-nominated Cimarrón perform joropo dance music from the cattle-rearing plains of the Orinoco River, rooted in a deep tradition defined by the mestizo mixed heritage of African, Spanish and indigenous cultures.
Their music includes four-stringed cuatro, harp, maracas, and also Peruvian-flamenco cajón, Brazilian surdo, Afro-Colombian tambora, a stomp dance as a percussion component and tribal indigenous whistles never seen before out of Latin America.
Led by harpist and composer Carlos Rojas, Cimarrón make wild, untamed music that preserves the spirit of freedom found in one of the world’s most untouched regions.
Fast paced and powerful, this is music with impetuous singing, amazing stomp dancing and fierce instrumental virtuosity of strings and percussion.
The Guardian writes: “They matched furious songs and wild dance routines with subtle instrumental work.”
The Independent commented on the band’s appearance at WOMAD in 2009: “Their female dancer, in a gorgeous dress from some 19th century ballroom, swirls in a deadly-looking courting ritual round a stamping male, and a sensual past breathes again.”
Cimarrón have gained the following awards.
They were Best Latin Album winner on 2012 Independent Music Awards and Best Traditional Music Show nominee on 2014 Premios Lunas del Auditorio de Mexico.
And they have performed in 30 countries worldwide.
Catrin Finch and Cimarrón will be at Galeri, Caernarfon on Friday, January 24, and at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Wednesday, January 29.
The performance at Galeri starts at 7.30pm, and tickets at £18 (concessions £15), can be ordered from the Galeri box office on 01286 685 250, or log on to https://www.galeri caernarfon.com/.
The show at Aberystwyth Arts Centre starts at 8pm, and tickets at £22 (concessions £18) can be ordered from the Aberystwyth Arts Centre box office on 01970 62 32 32, or log on to https://www.aberystwyth artscentre.co.uk/.