MARFA - On Saturday, October 29, Marfa will hear beautiful music as the Marfa Studio of Arts hosts a one-night event, La Musica : Fiestas y Milagros, that will bring to town a quartet of musicians, including a vocalist, to perform an evening of classical Spanish festival music and a song-cycle of composer John Beeman .

This performance will be the focal event of the Dia de los Muertos celebration organized by the Marfa Studio of the Arts for the fifth consecutive year.

The event is free to the public at 8 p.m. in the Goode Crowley Theater, Marfa.

The Marfa Elementary School Gifted and Talented Program, under the direction of Felicia Martinez and assisted by Ellie Meyer, will build a traditional Dia de los Muertos altar in the lobby of the theater. A public reception with food and refreshments will follow the performance.

If the name Beeman sounds familiar, it is because John Beeman is the brother of Malinda Beeman , the director of the Marfa Studio of Arts.

The idea for this performance was conceived more than three years ago. “Every time we talked about bringing this to Marfa, we always ran into scheduling problems”, said Malinda . This year seemed to have the right timing and Malinda got busy organizing the event. John contacted musicians in El Paso who might be available for the evening and sent them the musical score for his work.

The work composed by John Beeman and performed for the evening will be an original song cycle entitled ‘Four Retablos .' This composition is based on the stories of four retablo paintings owned by Judy Tobey , a friend of John.

A retablo is traditionally an oil painting on tin depicting a near tragic event and giving thanks to the appropriate saint for a miraculous outcome.

These four works will be sung in Spanish by Gloria Zubeck and accompanied by the musicians. This work was premiered by Ensemble Sorelle at the Seattle Art Museum in 2003.

John Beeman studied with Peter Fricker and later with William Bergsma at the University of Washington where he received his Master's degree. His first opera, The Great American Dinner Table, was produced on National Public Radio. Orchestral works have been performed by the Fremont-Newark Philharmonic, Peninsula Symphony, and Santa Rosa Symphony. The composer's second opera, Law Offices, premiered in San Francisco in 1996 and was later performed on the steps of the San Mateo County Courthouse. Mr. Beeman has received ASCAP special awards from 1998-2004, and also was a participant in the Ernest Bloch Festival, Oxford Summer Institutes and Bard Composer-Conductor program.

Musicians performing La Musica will be Claudia Encarnacion (cellist ) , Ben Loeb (pianist), Joy Zalkind (flute) and Gloria Zubeck (soprano).

Encarnacion has performed with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra for the past 20 years as assistant principal cellist, including tours in Germany and Turkey . Loeb is an accomplished conductor, accompanist, soloist and arranger, and the founder and Artistic Director of the International Conducting Workshop. Zalkind is a member of the El Paso Opera orchestra and also performs with the Las Cruces Symphony . Zubeck currently performs with the El Paso Chamber Choir and sings in the El Paso Opera Chorus.  She has also performed with the El Paso Gilbert and Sullivan production and with the now-defunct El Paso Zarzuela Company as Pilar in Gigantes y Cabezudos and Maria in La Tempranca .

The evening will open with two European composers, Bach and Haydn, then move to the more Latin-inspired program. The music for the evening includes:

J.S. Bach, Sonata in b minor for Flute and Piano, BWV 1030;

F. J. Haydn, Trio in G major for Flute, Violoncello and Piano, Hob. XV, #15;

J. Beeman , Four Retablos for Soprano, Flute, Violoncello and Piano;

H. Villa-Lobos, Aria from Bachianas Brasilieras #5 for Violoncello and Piano;

H. Villa-Lobos, "A Játo " (Jet Whistle) for Flute and Violoncello;

P. Silva, " Evocação " for Flute and Piano;

M. de Falla . Siete Conciones populares Españolas .

The evening has been funded in part by the Crowley Foundation, the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the Texas Commission for the Arts. The Mid-America Arts Alliance has awarded this event a “Meet the Composer” grant to support three presentations to the Marfa Middle School music students by composer John Beeman . To additionally help fund this event, Malinda Beeman has printed a 7 color block print titled “La Musica ”, very limited edition. Proceeds of this work are being sold and will be available at the Marfa Studio and at the theater that night.

The Marfa Studio invites the Marfa and Big Bend community to enjoy this free evening of classical music. The Goode Crowley Theater is located at 98 South Austin , one block north of U.S. 90 in Marfa.

Information: he Marfa Studio of Arts at (432) 729-4616.

Article from October 27,2005