Music and Musicians with Latin American Roots

Itinerarios is a weekly two-hour radio program which features music and musicians from throughout Latin America.  Music by the acknowledged masters of Mexico, South and Central America and the Caribbean Islands is presented in a free flowing session which also features performers with Latin American affiliations.  These world class artists bring a distinctive interpretive power to not only music of Latin America, but also to the great body of European music.  A typical edition of Itinerarios might place interpretations of Beethoven, played by the Mexican pianist Jorge Federico Osorio, alongside the guitar music of Paraguayan composer Augustin Barrios performed by the Welsh guitarist David Russell.  Itinerarios is a fascinating palette which celebrates the contribution of Latin America to the world of classical music.  Itinerarios was added to the Monday lineup of KPAC and KTXI programming in the Fall of 2003.

Don Quixote, el patron del Cervantino

The programming found on tinerarios is derived principally from commercial recordings from both the Texas Public Radio library and the personal collection of program host James Baker.  In addition, the program features live concert recordings plus interviews and specially produced segments from locations such as the International Guitar Festival in Paracho, Michoacan and the International Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato, GTO.

The program producer and host, James Baker, has extensive knowledge and experience with Latin American music, especially the music and musicians of Mexico.  Mr. Baker is a professional musician who has performed not only with the San Antonio Symphony and various other American orchestras, but also lived in Mexico while he was a member of the Orquesta Filarmonica de la Ciudad de Mexico, the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa.  In addition, Baker has played with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria and with Eduardo Mata’s ensemble Solistas de Mexico.

Intinerarios airs Sunday evenings at 7 on KPAC 88.3 FM in San Antonio and KTXI 90.1 FM in the Hill Country.

Upcoming Programs

April 28, 2008
Peruvian musician and conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya’s meteoric rise has prompted talk of a conducting position with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. On this week’s show, we hear Harth-Bedoya with the Ft. Worth Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

May 4
Mention the name Assad and many will immediately think of the brothers, guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad. Some will think of Badi Assad. She plays guitar too, but is best known as a singer-songwriter in the jazz and world-beat genres. But wait, there are even more Assad musicians, all from Brazil. On today’s show we will hear performances from the extended Assad family.

May 11
Although the Orquesta de Baja California is relatively young, they are led by the industrious Eduardo Diazmunoz and therefore have an interesting discography, ranging from a Latin Grammy nominated disc of music for guitar and orchestra to accompaniments of the American-Mexican singer Betsy Pecanins. We will focus a spotlight on this ensemble on today’s Itinerarios.

May 18
Music paints numerous and vivid Latin American landscapes on this week’s show, ranging from musical boat rides on the Amazon to evocative musical imitation of the rain forests of Latin America.

May 25
Tanglewood, in the Bershires, was a musical hotbed during the 20s, 30s and 40s as an eventual who’s who of Latin American composers came through to study with the likes of Copland and Koussevitsky. Today’s program will explore the remarkable foreign exchange between Latin America and the USA at Tanglewood