Latin American Song Project

MANUEL M. PONCE: "Estrellita"
Charles Wolfer, tenor

MARÍA GREVER: "Te Quiero, Dijiste"
Alex Roges, soprano

JOSE WHITE: Zamacueca
Alex Estrella, violin
Mauricio Campos Gonzalez, piano

JAIME LEÓN: "A tí"
Laura Santamaria-Mendez, soprano

MARÍA GREVER: "Júrame"
Anthony Paredes, tenor

MANUEL M. PONCE: Intermezzo No. 1
Sebastián Castillo, piano

ASTOR PIAZZOLA: "Milonga en ay Menor"
ERNESTO CORDERO: "La Hija del Viejo Pancho"
Paulina Rodríguez, soprano

CONSUELO VELÁZQUEZ: "Bésame mucho"
Anthony Paredes, tenor
Elycia King, soprano

AUGUSTO POLO CAMPOS (arr. Diego Peralta): Contigo Perú
Ricardo Verde, horn
Lesly Chavez, clarinet
Diego Peralta, piano

LUIS CARLOS FIGUEROA SIERRA: Colombiana No. 2
Clara Mazo, violin
Feitai Zhao, piano

ROBERTO CANTORAL: "El Triste"
Mariana Elosúa Serna, soprano

MARLOS NOBRE: Poema III
Andrés Celis, cello
Haram Kim, piano

MANUEL M. PONCE: "Lejos de ti"
Paulina de la Fuente, soprano

LIN MANUEL MIRANDA: "Breathe" (from In the Heights)
Isabel Leoni, vocalist

MANUEL M. PONCE: "Estrellita"

Little star of the distant sky,
You see my pain.
You know my anguish.
Come down and tell me if he loves me a little,
Because I cannot live without his love.
Because I’m missing you.
You are, star, my beacon of love!
You know that soon I shall die.
Come down and tell me if he loves me a little,
Because I cannot live without his love.

MARÍA GREVER: "Te Quiero, Dijiste"

"I love you," you said, holding my hands 
between your ivory fair hands. 
And I felt in my chest 
a strong palpitation, then a sigh,
and later the snap of a feverish kiss. 
Pretty little doll, with hair of gold, 
With pearly teeth, ruby lips. 
Tell me if you love me the way that I adore you. 
If you remember me like I do you. 
And sometimes I hear a divine echo 
Wrapped in the breeze that seems to say, 
"Yes! I love you very much, very, very, very much,
As much as I did then, always, until I die."

JAIME LEÓN: "A tí"

You do not know it, but I have dreamed,
among my ermine-colored dreams,
hours of joy with your love,
burning kisses, gentle sighs.

When the afternoon tints with gold
those spaces where we went together,
when my soul undertakes its flight 
to the regions of the infinite.

MARÍA GREVER: "Júrame"

Everyone says that it's a lie that I love you
because they have never seen me in love. 
I promise you that I myself cannot comprehend 
the reason why your glance fascinates me.
When I am near you and you are happy,
I wouldn't wish you to remember another.
I am jealous of even the thought 
That I could remind you of another lover.
Promise me that although time may pass us by, 
you won't forget the moment that I met you. 
Look at me, for there is nothing more profound 
nor more grand in this life, than the love I gave you. 
Kiss me, with a kiss so enamored 
In a way no one has kissed me since the day that I was born. 
Love me, love me until the point of madness. 
'Cause only then will you know the sadness I suffer for you.

ASTOR PIAZZOLA: "Milonga en ay Menor"

Don't console me to die,
I don't want to point.
I will die by myself
and it will rain.

I am the lost protagonist
of a drama that Roberto Arlt
forgot to write: I made him cry.

Crucified by the antennas
that flourished at the rooftops, 
I lived, mixing myself to find me, in
the sad lights on twenty afternoons.
The last rain erased the street
that I had looked for.
I don't know if I exist,
but now i understand
why it rains in porteño.

Don't console me
on why to die.
I don't want a point.
I will die of a bite from my heart.

The rain will taste of tears
that Roberto Arlt will shout
to a certain god
beyond,
looking back,
knowing that I lived with love.

ERNESTO CORDERO: "La Hija del Viejo Pancho"

When my pet Camagüey rooster 
crows his song, 
and dawn's mist, ghostlike and smoky, 
creeps through the cracks of my hut, 
I listen to the meek oxen; 
to the young calves that just woke. 
Old Pancho's daughter, 
with her smell of sage and clove, 
that, as she walks by my hammock 
to milk the cows, 
I get a strong smell of farm and wild. 
Ah, ah! Everything smells like happiness, 
and that happy smell is given to me 
by old Pancho's daughter.

CONSUELO VELÁZQUEZ: "Bésame mucho"

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
As if tonight it was
The last time.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
Me who fears losing you,
Losing you afterwards.
Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
Me who fears losing you, 
Losing your afterwards.

I wish to have you very close,
Looking at myself through your eyes,
To see you next to me.
Think that maybe tomorrow 
I will already be far away, 
very far away from you.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
As if tonight it was the last time.
Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
Me who fears losing you,
Losing you afterwards. 

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
Me who fears losing you,
Losing you afterwards,
Me who fears losing you,
Losing you afterwards.

ROBERTO CANTORAL: "El Triste"

How sad it was to say goodbye,
When we adored each other so much,
Even the swallow migrated
Foreshadowing the end. 

How sad everything is without you,
The beach has no sea,
The colors turn gray,
Everything is loneliness now. 

I don't know if I'll see you once again.
I don't know what will become of my life
without the light of your being,
that doesn't shed light on me anymore. 

Today I want to savor my pain,
I don't ask for compassion, nor pity.
This love story was written
to be eternal.

"What a sad one," everyone says of me,
That I'm always speaking of you;
But they don't know that by thinking of your love, 
I am able to help myself go on, to help myself live. 

MANUEL M. PONCE: "Lejos de ti"

You do not know it, but I have dreamed,
among my ermine-colored dreams,
hours of joy with your love,
burning kisses, gentle sighs.

When the afternoon tints with gold
those spaces where we went together,
when my soul undertakes its flight to the regions of the infinite.

LIN MANUEL MIRANDA: "Breathe"

Breathe
This is my street
I smile at the faces
I've known all my life
They regard me with pride
And everyone's sweet
They say, "You're going places!"
So how can I say that while I was away
I had so much to hide!

"Hey guys, it's me!
The biggest disappointment you know"
The kid couldn't hack it
She's back and she's walkin' real slow
Welcome home
Just breathe…
As the radio plays old forgotten boleros
I think of the days when this city was mine
I remember the praise

"Ay, te adoro, te quiero,"
The neighborhood waved, and
Said, "Nina, be brave and
You're gonna be fine!"
And maybe it's me
But it all seems like lifetimes ago
So what do I say to these faces that I used to know?
"Hey, I'm home?"

Hey…
They're not worried about me
They're all counting on me to succeed
I am the one who made it out!
The one who always made the grade
But maybe I should have just stayed home

When I was a child, I stayed wide awake
Climbed to the highest place
On every fire escape
Restless to climb

I got every scholarship
Saved every dollar
The first to go to college
How do I tell them why
I'm coming back home?
With my eyes on the horizon

Just me and the GWB, asking, "Gee, Nina, what'll you be?"

Straighten the spine
Smile for the neighbors
Everything's fine
Everything's cool
The standard reply:
"Lots of tests, lots of papers."
Smile, wave goodbye
And pray to the sky, oh, god
And what will my parents say?

Can I go in there and say
"I know that I'm letting you down."
Just breathe... 

Senior Manager of Concert Services – Luis Herrera 
Concert Production Coordinator – Matthew Carey
Concert Production Manager – Kendall Floyd
Manager of Performance Technology – Wes Fowler
Performance Technology Technicians – Sara Pagiaro, Goran Daskalov

Special thanks to Scott Nicholas for his beautiful musicianship and collaboration. And thank you to Dr. Muñoz for assisting us with this event.