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Where did the first people to populate the Americas come from? Dr. David Bowles walks us across the Bering Land Bridge with the first to set foot on the North and South American continents. They beat out Christopher Columbus by thousands of years. Bowles also reads one of his numerous translations of verse in Nahuatl.

We meet the Argentinian composer Alberto Williams, whose earliest music sounded more like his teacher, Cesar Franck, than of Argentina. However, in 1890 Williams shifted his attention to the forms, melodies and rhythms of Argentine folk music. Carlos Franzetti returns to speak of that most Incan of wind instruments, the quena, and also introduces us to Alberto Ginastera's “Cantata para America Magica,” an amalgam of pre-Columbian texts and rituals, combined with indigenous mythology, a prime example of the modern meeting the ancient, resulting in something completely new.

Heitor Villa-Lobos and Carlos Chávez both wrote music that echoed the sounds of their homelands of Brazil and Mexico. Villa-Lobos' music often imitates bird calls and other sounds of the Amazonian jungles, while Chávez pursued an “imagined Aztec music.” Flutist Laurel Zucker takes us along on some of her own adventures into exotic places such as the forests, jungles and wetlands of Central and South America.

Flutist Laurel Zucker takes us to Quito, Ecuador, arguably the highest national capital in the world, and then describes being rolled out of her bunk on choppy seas in route to the Galapagos Islands. Laurel then writes music about her adventures on her laptop computer. Also on this episode, we hear Los Chiriguanos, a multi-lingual duo whose hearts are into the preservation of the tongue of their long ago ancestors.

Sarah Davis, Natalie Baker and Zachary Ridgway stop by KPAC 88.3 FM's Classical Connections to perform music inspired by and featuring the words of the famous German poet who 'launched romanticism,' Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Dr. David Bowles introduces us to Nahuatl, one of numerous indigenous languages still in use in the geographic region we know today as Latin America.

Dr. David Bowles, fluent in Nahuatl, speaks of the numerous variants of the language. The focus is on music with titles in Nahuatl, by Carlos Chávez and Silvestre Revueltas. Dr. Bowles introduces us to Nezahualcóyotl, a poet, musician, philosopher and architect.

Ana Cervantes shares the story behind her set of commissions from 16 composers, from five countries, for a project called “Canto de la Monarca: Mujeres en Mexico.” The music, old and new, modern and indigenous, tells histories and mythologies. If there are no literary languages, they are surely implied in at times highly dramatic fashion. Gabriela Ortiz was one of the best-known of the composers who answered Ana's call for submissions.

The 2024 season of Momentos Musicales comes to an end as the ensemble Inti-Illimani presents “Quiaquenita” and Gabriela Ortiz returns alongside pianist Ana Cervantes with her extraordinary “Estudio No. 3.” Eugenio Toussiant has the honor of the final bars of music with his “Palabras sin Sonida,” words without sound.

Today's journey begins with flute music from R. Carlos Nakai, born into the Navajo nation. His song echoes the souls of Nakai's ancestors as they beat out foot paths to the south, establishing trade routes connecting the Navajo nation with the Huichol of northwestern Mexico. Trade continued all the way to the great Aztec city which we know today as Mexico City. Gabriela Ortiz speaks of discovering Huichol chant which she then integrated into her modern orchestral score, “Kauyumari.”