Discovering the Music of Paintings, with Oliver Prezant and Friends
Featuring the work of artist Carlos Canul
Saturday, March 4, from 2-3:30 p.m.
General admission: $25
Seating is limited, purchase your tickets HERE.
How does a painting sound? How do line and shape, color and texture, mood and compositional relationships translate into music? Join Oliver Prezant and violinist Carla Kountoupes, clarinetist Jerry Weimer, and cellist Katie Harlow for an interactive, musical exploration of the artwork of Carlos Canul. Carlos’ extraordinary paintings suggest the liminal world between matter and spirit, where landscapes dissolve into ethereal states and the boundaries between objects soften into the awareness of something larger. During the program, you’ll have a chance to share your thoughts and ideas as we create original music based on your impressions of the paintings. The artist will be present during the program.
"Carlos’ paintings are both timeless and evolving,” said Prezant. “Some of them seem to reference ancient cultures and the deeper processes of mythology. We'll rehearse to get ready, of course, but the musicians won't see the paintings until the day of the performance. It’s going to be really fascinating to hear what the audience has to say about them, and to hear what the musicians come up with as we work together to capture the essence of these paintings in sound.”
This event is a production of Opus OP Arts and Education Projects.
Carlos Canul, 2016, The Journey of Venus Through the Underworld, oil on canvas, 60 x 72.
Photo captions and credits:
Conductor and arts educator Oliver Prezant: Ruthanne Greeley
Violinist Carla Kountoupes: Will Wilson (Diné)
Clarinetist Jerry Weimer: Nacha Mendez
Cellist Katie Harlow: Joseph Sabella
Artist Biographies:
Carlos Canul is a contemporary abstract oil painter who lives and works in Splendora, Texas. A native of Brownsville, Texas, his art focuses on the merging of figuration and abstraction, while holding together the traditions of a layered exploration of the medium. His personal style draws from a combination of his Mayan heritage and the spiritual dialogue that draws forth within his life, and the natural surroundings he encounters wherever he goes. Landscapes, Meso-American and world mythologies, spiritual realms, and figuration are all major themes in his paintings and drawings. The use of darkness and light, stark lines and blurred imagery combine to invite the viewer into a world of questions both personal and communal.
Canul attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in Dallas Texas. It is there he began honing his talent for artistic expression; “My drawings lead to a deeper understanding of my painting modalities; thus, they hold the key to expressing my painterly explorations.” This was only furthered by his time spent as an undergraduate art student at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Southern Methodist University, and Houston Baptist University where he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in painting and drawing. Canul’s artwork has been shown in solo and various curated and juried exhibitions in the United States and Europe. One of his works was exhibited in The Big Show at Lawndale in Houston, Texas in 2016. He has also served on various selection panel committees for The Office of Cultural Affairs, Public Art Program in Dallas, Texas.
Carlos Canul currently holds a position as professor of visual art at Houston Baptist University in Houston, Texas where he teaches painting and drawing, and is director and lead curator of the Contemporary Art Gallery and the Fine Arts Museum on the HBU campus, where he exhibits the artwork of local, regional, and international visual artists. Canul also works with his wife Ruby Surls at the family art studio and Splendora Gardens in Splendora, Texas; a, alternative art space focusing on arts education, visual and performing arts, and the environment.
Oliver Prezant has presented lectures and education programs for the Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, National Hispanic Cultural Center, Performance Santa Fe, the Tanglewood Association of Volunteers, Road Scholar, and the Guilds of the Santa Fe and San Francisco Opera companies. As the music director and conductor of the Santa Fe Community Orchestra, he worked with community musicians and choristers, professional soloists, public school music students, composers, creative artists, and community partners from Santa Fe and northern New Mexico to present a wide variety of innovative performances, unique education programs, and community collaborations. He has presented programs on the relationship of art and music for the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, the Albuquerque Museum of Art, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art. Oliver was one of the founding teaching artists in Partners in Education’s ArtWorks Program, which provides arts education workshops for Santa Fe Public Schools students and teachers in the areas of music, poetry, visual art, theater, and dance. As the artistic advisor to the program, he trained teaching artists and classroom teachers, and coordinated with area poets, museums, and other arts organizations. He studied at the Mannes College of Music in New York City and the Pierre Monteux School for conductors in Hancock, Maine, and he was an Assistant Professor in the Contemporary Music Program at the College of Santa Fe and an instructor at Santa Fe University of Art and Design.
Carla Kountoupes, violinist, is a member of the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Opera Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and Piazzolla da Camera Piano Trio. Carla has toured and performed professionally with orchestras and chamber ensembles in Central America, Taiwan, Germany, and all over the United States, including as a member of the New Century Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco and the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra. She enjoys performing and recording many genres in addition to classical, including Latin/world, alt-rock/pop, and jazz. A dedicated music educator, Carla is on the faculty at the New Mexico School for the Arts. She is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory (Violin Performance) and Oberlin College (English Literature). Carla’s violin was made in the 1740s and was inherited from her grandfather.
Jerry Weimer is a composer and clarinetist who has been a part of the Santa Fe music scene since 2001. Known for his unique sound, stylistic versatility, and compelling improvisations, Jerry is a regular presence in the Jazz and Latin music communities of Northern New Mexico, and was a featured soloist with the Santa Fe Community Orchestra in Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1. He has collaborated with many local artists, including Nacha Mendez, Joaquin Gallegos, Jono Manson, Nosotros, Rumelia, John Rangel, the Shiners Club Jazz Band, Revózo, and Victor Alvarez’s SAVOR. Recent performances include Le Carnaval des Animaux with the National Dance Institute, and Amane, with Joe Hay, Words in the Wind, with Melanie Monsour, and Zozobra in 2021. Jerry is a graduate of the College of Santa Fe where he studied with Eddie Daniels.
Katie Harlow, cellist, has performed on cello, mandolin, accordion, and viola da gamba in numerous symphonic, chamber, early, folk, and improvised music ensembles, including the Santa Fe Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque, New Music New Mexico, the New Mexico Women Composer's Guild, Opera Southwest, the early music groups Three Bass Blondes and the Boxwood Consort, the improvising music ensembles Out of Context and Playroom, the Bill Horvitz Band (jazz and new music), Cicadas, a mandolin ensemble, the folk music groups Bailiwick and Caledonia, and the band Basement Dancing. In addition, she has created arrangements and compositions for concerts, recordings, and theater productions. Katie holds a Bachelors in Cello Pedagogy and a Masters in Music Education from the University of New Mexico, and was on the faculty of Albuquerque Academy for many years.
Media Contact: Oliver Prezant
Phone: 505-660-8834
email: oliver@oliverprezant.com