President Obama’s recent visit to Cuba will by coincidence be the prelude to a month-long residency at Otterbein University next month by one of Cuba’s most celebrated musicians, as well as to the world premiere of a Cuban musical work and a series of concerts and master classes exploring Cuban music.
Throughout the month of April, noted Cuban pianist and composer José María Vitier will give performances and lead master classes as artist-in-residence in an exploration of Cuban arts. The residency is part of Otterbein and the Arts: Opening Doors to the World 2015-2018, a three-year, university-wide initiative to explore diverse regions of the world by way of cultural dialogue.
“He’s arguably (Cuba’s) most celebrated jazz pianist and musical score composer today,” said Otterbein University provost Miguel Martinez-Saenz in a recent phone interview.
Otterbein’s Cuban arts exploration and the broader concept for Opening Doors to the World began to emerge during the months before President Obama’s December 2014 statement that the U.S. would be “normalizing” its relations with Cuba. The Otterbein initiative is the result of Martinez-Saenz’s idea to begin a campus-wide conversation about Cuba and the arts.
“Because of all this conversation about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), I thought it was critical to have also an emphasis on the arts,” said Martinez-Saenz, an American of Cuban descent.
Intrigued by both Cuban social protest artists in exile and Cuban artists who have remained on the island, Martinez-Saenz says he wanted to start a conversation about art and politics by, in essence, experiencing the work of artists in both camps side by side. This goal resulted initially in An Island Apart: Cuban Artists in Exile, a series of visual and performing art exhibitions, films and master classes that unfolded at Otterbein in January and February. The work and careers of those Cuban artists in exile will be set in relief against the work of José María Vitier, an artist who lives and works in Cuba but also travels the world, during Vitier’s Otterbein residency.
“(Vitier) travels internationally. He actually has dual citizenship with Spain. What I wanted to do was use the arts to create space for conversation, a conversation that wouldn’t be so facile,” Martinez-Saenz said. “So it’s, Why are these artists in exile? It doesn’t make sense. Wait a second, why does this guy live in Havana still? Why does he get to travel and go back?”
These are questions with few, if any, easy answers, questions that Martinez-Saenz knows will cause some to wrestle with them.
“Everything we’re trying to do is a social-political commentary, but it’s a commentary that leaves open the resolution,” Martinez-Saenz said. “You’re going to have to struggle to figure out, How does this make sense? That’s what I think our obligation is: to raise the question.”
Vitier’s residency will culminate in a performance of his Misa Cubana featuring Vitier at the piano and the Westerville Symphony, the Otterbein University combined choirs and Capriccio Columbus, 5 p.m. April 24, at Otterbein University’s Fritsche Theatre. Dennis Davenport, chair of Otterbein Univeristy’s Music Department, says Vitier’s Misa Cubana is an ideal work for performing forces from within and beyond Otterbein and will likely please listeners throughout the broader community.
“We looked closely at the score and recording (of Misa Cubana) to see if it would be a good fit for our choirs and for our audience and for the Westerville Symphony. And after consultation for a couple of weeks, we thought, You know, this is really going to be a great piece. It’s tuneful and it’s accessible and it’s very Cuban. It’s just a very vibrant, beautiful piece,” Davenport said.
Events leading up to the April 24 performance of Vitier’s Misa Cubana include the Otterbein University String Orchestra’s world premiere of Vitier’s Laberintos on a concert also featuring music inspired by South America, April 10, 7:30 p.m., at Westerville’s Grace Lutheran Church. A Cuban jazz concert at the Columbus Museum of Art on April 3 at 3 p.m., master classes with Otterbein composition students at 5 p.m. on April 6 and 13 at Otterbein’s Battelle Fine Arts Center and a recital of Cuban music performed by mezzo-soprano Olga Perez-Flora and other musicians at Otterbein’s Riley Auditorium, April 16 at 8 p.m., are also open to the public.
In light of President Obama’s recent visit to Cuba, the timing of Vitier’s residency at Otterbein and the university’s exploration of Cuban music is remarkable.
“Now, of course, there’s huge interest in Cuban music and cultural exchange and the president’s recent visit to Cuba and everything else that’s going on. It’s just a really, really exciting time to be exploring Cuban art, Cuban culture, Cuban everything.”
