The VOX Concerto

Commissioned by our classmate Roger Arvid Anderson as part of his Concerto Initiative project, the world premiere of Andres Martin's VOX Concerto for Violincello (known to most of us as simply cello) featuring Amos Yang, cello, was presented by the Pioneer Valley Symphony at the Tillis Performance Hall, Bromery Center for the Arts in Amherst, MA on March 19, 2022.

In a recent communication to the Class of '68 Class Committee, Roger provided additional background information:  Andres Martin is Argentine but lives in Tijuana where he is the principal bass with the regional orchestra. He is also the world's leading composer for the bass. His Bass Concerto #1 has entered repertoire for bass and is used in many competitions as the piece the bass players must perform for the judges. I met him when he attended a bass camp in San Francisco in 2019. He was already acquainted with my Concerto Initiative project. He handed me his phone and played something new he was working on. Wow was it powerful and I was hooked! In July of 2020 I commissioned him to write a concerto for cello and orchestra with the theme of Vox Clamantis in Desserto, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness. In light of those words, I asked him to respond musically to the turmoil and isolation of the COVID pandemic. The Vox Concerto has 3 movements and the 3rd movement incorporates an Argentine dance form  called the milonga, whose joyous nature he confounds with the tragic drama of the pandemic. The concerto is around 35 minutes long. It is melody friendly and a roller coaster of emotional swings. I sincerely believe the world has a new masterpiece on its hands.