Cantos de mi Tierra

7

Date/Time: Sunday, January 19th | Doors open @ 2 PM | Performance @ 2:30 PM | Post-show Reception @ 3:30 PM

Ticket Cost: $30

Venue: North Shore Community Development Coalition

Location: 96 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor, Salem, MA 01970

Artists: Isabelle Zeledón (soprano), David Rivera Bozón (tenor), and Yukiko Oba (piano).

CONCERT PARTNERS:

CANTOS DE MI TIERRA


MassOpera kicks off its 2025 Season with Cantos de mi Tierra, an outreach concert celebrating Latin American culture. This concert features Latin American composers, lyricists, and performers, and will be Sunday, January 19th from 2:30PM-4PM (doors open at 2 PM), at the North Shore Community Development Coalition in Salem, MA, in partnership with its subsidiary, the Punto Urban Art Museum, a social justice public art program for the North Shore. North Shore CDC works to improve the quality of life for residents in low-income, North Shore neighborhoods through affordable housing, economic development, community engagement, small business support, and public art projects.

Featuring two of the most talented singers in the Northeast, Isabelle Zeledón and David Rivera Bozón, and long-time collaborator, pianist, Yukiko Oba, this concert will be a celebration of Latin American culture, including music and cuisine from Latin America for our guests to enjoy. 

TICKETS

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S NOTES:


Telling stories through music is an important part of what unites us all in our humanity. No matter where in the world you come from, there will always be some sort of folk-lore, religion, or event put into story form, to teach us about ourselves. 

Through this program we center our story-telling today in the many diverse and rich cultures of Central and South America. In making the program, I sought out singers with connection to the music and land, who are most experienced with Latin American musical programming. Together we curated a set list of songs that will make for a meaningful and memorable afternoon, expressing stories in the styles of Bolero, Zarzuela, and more. 



ARTISTS

Isabelle Zeledón

Isabelle Zeledón

Soprano

Bio

Nicaraguan-American soprano Isabelle Zeledón creates cross-cultural connections through music. Recent operatic highlights include: Grouch (Green Eggs & Ham), South Wind (Mr. Twister) and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni). She is an active recitalist with Opera on Tap and the Fry Trio, and has been a member of the BLO and BYSO choruses in works like Champion & Faust. Previous competitions placements include: Semi-Finalist (Bing-Cooper, International Music Grand Prix, NYIOP Competition); 3rd Place (Classical Singer). Programs include the BoCo Opera Intensive and OperaWorks. She received her P.S.C and M.M in Opera at Boston Conservatory. She obtained a B.M. in Vocal Performance from the NEC and a B.A. in International Relations and German Studies from Tufts University. She studies with Dr. Rebecca Folsom.
David Rivera Bozón

David Rivera Bozón

Tenor

Bio

Colombian tenor based in Boston, he has a thriving international performance career, being recognized for his extraordinary talent and warm personality. Bozon has performed the main tenor roles in the operas Siren Song by Jonathan Dove; Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catán; L’Amico Fritz by Pietro Mascagni; Elisir d’Amor by Gaetano Donizetti; La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi; the operas by Puccini: La Bohème, Gianni Schicchi, Madama Butterfly and Tosca; and the operas by Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, Idomeneo, La Finta Giardiniera and Don Giovanni. David is pursuing the Opera Institute by Boston University. He holds a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory, and Bachelors from the National University of Colombia. 
Yukiko Oba

Yukiko Oba

Pianist

Bio

Yukiko Oba has performed extensively as an accompanist for recitals, choruses, master classes, and composers’ projects. Ms. Oba is a graduate of Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo. She has been a member of the accompanying staff at Boston Conservatory at Berklee since 1996 and has performed with many acclaimed Boston area singers. She has participated in the MIT concert choir since the fall of 2016 aside conductor Dr. William Cutter, worked with the Worcester Schubertiad, and has been worked with the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Most recently, she performed Nico Muhly’s pieces for countertenor with the Beth Morrison Project at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Ms. Oba resides in Weymouth, MA with her daughter and husband whom she frequently plays piano for four hand pieces. 

PROGRAM

Cantos de Colombia (7’)

Three pieces by José Rozo Contreras (1894-1976)

  1. Victoria 
  2. A ti 
  3. Caracola 

David Rivera Bozón, tenor

[José Rozo Contreras was a Colombian composer, saxophonist, flutist, and violinist. These three pieces embody his love for his country.]

Cantos de Peru (7’45”)

Selections of Cuatro Canciones Andinas by Gabriela Lena Frank (b.1972)

  1. Despedida
  2. Yo crio Una Mosca
  3. Yunca

Isabelle Zeledón, soprano

[Gabriela Lena Frank’s selections of Cuatro Canciones Andinas, explores her indigenous connection to the Quechua people.]

Cantos de Cuba (8’)

  1. Soledad from Soledad by Rodrigo Prats (1909-1980)
  2. Lagrimas Negras by Miguel Matamoros (1894-1971)

David Rivera Bozón, tenor

[Rodrigo Prats was a composer of Zarzuela works as embodied in his work Soledad. Miguel Matamoros was part of the group, Trío Matamoros, which composed and performed bolero-fusion works as heard in their famous piece, “Lagrimas Negras”.]

Cantos de España y Cuba (9’50”)

Selections of Cinco Canciones Negras by Xavier Montsalvatge (1912-2002)

  1. Cuba dentro un piano
  2. Cancion de cuna para Dormir un Negrito
  3. Canto negro 

Isabelle Zeledón, soprano

[Xavier Montsalvatge’s Cinco Canciones Negras examines what he observed about the female Afro-Latinx experience in Cuba.]

Cantos de México (11’)

  1. Júrame by Maria Grever (1885-1951)
  2. Bésame mucho by Consuelo Velázques (1916-2005)
  3. Comprendo from Il Postino by Daniel Catán (1949-2011)

David Rivera Bozón, tenor

[These three powerful songs by Mexican composers all center on the theme of romance. The first two are popular 20th century songs by women-identifying composers at a time when women were still not yet encouraged to be published composers. Maria Grever went on to be one of the first celebrated Mexican composers of Tin-Pan Alley, and Consuelo Velázques’s Bésame mucho was translated into over 20 languages after being covered by Nat “King” Cole in the United States (~1944)

Comprendo is an aria from Daniel Catán’s opera, Il Postino, which is about exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.]

Canto de Chile (4’01”)

Gracias a la Vida by Violeta Parra (1917-1967)

Isabelle Zeledón, soprano

[Violeta Parra (1917-1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, and a pioneer of the “Nueva Canción Chilena”. “Gracias a la Vida” was composed in 1966, and is one of Parra’s most emblematic songs. It was recorded and released on Las Últimas Composiciones, Parra’s last album before committing suicide. One of the most covered Latin American songs in history, it was inducted to the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.]

VENUE

NORTH SHORE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COALITION
96 LAFAYETTE STREET, 2ND FLOOR, SALEM, MA 01970

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