UC Riverside Department of Music presents:

Rafael Montero (tenor), John Sloboda (piano): The Songs of Pedro Ximénez Abril Tirado (1784-1856)

Pedro Ximénez Abril y Tirado was one of Latin America’s most successful and prolific composers of the early 19th century, whose work spanned the critical period of the establishment of independent Latin American states in the period after the end of the Spanish Empire.  Known at the time as “El sinfonista de los Andes,” he learned his craft during the colonial years, but he was able to contribute to the body of early postcolonial repertoire.  In the 20th century his work fell from view. It is only now, with the greater interest in postcolonial studies and the rehabilitation of indigenous musics, that his work has begun to receive scholarly and artistic attention.  His music exemplifies the cosmopolitanism and cultural mobility that were an important strand in the establishment of a distinctive Latin American cultural life.  At the peak of his career, he occupied a prestigious position as director of music at Sucre Cathedral, the most important cultural and religious city of the newly created state of Bolivia, under the direct patronage of President Andrés de Santa Cruz.

These secular songs exemplify his cosmopolitanism in both words and music.   He set to music South American poets like Esteban Echeverría and Manuel Martínez, from Argentina and Mexico respectively, who took their inspiration from the culture in which they were living, working in the neoclassical and Romantic poetic styles. The music also shows stylistic variety. While the predominant style draws on European models (with similarities to Mozart, Haydn, and Bellini), there are also strong indigenous influences in some, particularly in a set of “Jaravi,” songs drawing on the ancient traditional genre of Andean music and indigenous lyric poetry.   At a time when the impetus to de-privilege the European classical canon grows ever stronger, Ximénez is a neglected composer of the highest quality whose works deserve wide contemporary exposure and integration into the corpus of established art songs.  This recital will offer a selection from the more than 300 songs now discovered and gradually being transcribed and edited for contemporary performance.

Rafael Montero is an Argentinian solo tenor and ensemble singer, singing teacher, and coach. He is founder and artistic director of El Parnaso Hyspano early-music ensemble.  Rafael’s heritage is native American and Spanish, and he has spoken Quechua since he was a child. He studied singing at the Conservatorio Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, and then early and chamber music at the Conservatoire de Musique de Neuchatel, Switzerland.  In 2022 he sang the title role in the U.K. premiere of Domenico Zipoli’s San Ignacio de Loyola, a Baroque opera written for the indigenous people from whom he is descended.  

 John Sloboda, OBE, FBA, is a singer, pianist, conductor, and researcher.  He is currently Assistant Conductor of Chorus of Dissent, a community choir based in Hackney, London.  He trained as a pianist with Else Cross and has specialized in accompanying, currently working with the tenor Rafael Montero. He is also a music psychologist, as well as Emeritus Professor at both the University of Keele and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where his recent interests have been the psychology of the live concert and the social benefits of music engagement. He is the author of several books and over 200 academic papers.

Part of the 2025-2026 Florence Bayz Music Series

The Florence Bayz Music Series offers online concerts, lectures, and presentations of academic research by Department of Music faculty, postdoctoral researchers, students, and international guest artists and scholars.

Dr. Amy Skjerseth (she/her), Assistant Professor of Popular Music, Coordinator

Events are free and open to the public.

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