PUNTO Experimental Music Ensemble is a contemporary music group active in Miami, Florida, United States.
PUNTO Experimental Music Ensemble is a contemporary music group active in Miami, Florida, United States.
The ensemble, founded by Venezuelan composer Gustavo Matamoros and Cuban composer Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz, organized concerts in venues such as the Miami Dade Community College, the Miami Dade Downtown Library and the Cameo Theater in Miami Beach during the 1990s. [1] Most recently, after a decade of inactivity, the members of PUNTO have reunited to continue their activities with the presentation of FLOW, an electroacoustic installation created by Gustavo Matamoros and Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz for the Listening Gallery of the South FLorida Composers Alliance. The installation was opened to the public on June 5, 2013. [2]
The nature and mission of PUNTO was defined by its founders in the inaugural concert program as follows:
"Defined as an open setting where various creative tendencies converge to form a nucleus of artistic interaction and stimulation, PUNTO is a composer-based ensemble committed to the performance of works conceptual and experimental in nature. The group utilizes new and old technology to develop aural and visual materials which combine to convey the processes and ideas inherent in each piece.
Founded recently by composers Gustavo Matamoros and Armando Rodríguez, PUNTO provides its members with an outlet or point of departure for controlled experimentation with sound and other media. It attempts to solve questions of performance and presentation of new ideas related to sound and its essence. Its objectives are to approach performance from a different perspective, to set up sound-based situations that engage the mind and create a sense of presence, and to give way to the discovery and implementation of new art forms." [3]
During the years that PUNTO remained active, the ensemble acquired recognition from the Miami cultural community, as it is evidenced in its many concerts performed at different venues throughout the city. The group fulfilled its main purpose of presenting to the community an innovative repertoire that could challenge the mind of the audience and create awareness about new trends in music and art in general. In the words of Tim Smith, art reporter at the Sun Sentinel newspaper: "…On April 6 at the Cameo Theatre in Miami Beach, Punto, an ensemble formed by Subtropics director Gustavo Matamoros and composer Armando Rodriguez, will re-create works by Fluxus. And what's Fluxus? It's described as a "fusion of Spike Jones, gags, games vaudeville, Cage and Duchamp." This is one of those only-at-Subtropics presentations aimed at challenging an audience aesthetic consciousness." [4]
Concerts organized and performed by PUNTO included:
Statistics: 2 world premieres, 2 florida premieres, 3 florida composers, 1 us composers, 3 hispanic composers. ." [3]
Miami Sound Machine was an American Latin pop band of Latin-influenced music that featured the vocals of Cuban-born recording artist Gloria Estefan. Established in 1975 by Emilio Estefan, the band was originally known as the Miami Latin Boys before becoming the Miami Sound Machine in 1977.
The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban music is often considered one of the richest and most influential regional music in the world. For instance, the son cubano merges an adapted Spanish guitar (tres), melody, harmony, and lyrical traditions with Afro-Cuban percussion and rhythms. Almost nothing remains of the original native traditions, since the native population was exterminated in the 16th century.
Several styles of the traditional music of Venezuela, such as salsa and merengue, are common to its Caribbean neighbors. Perhaps the most typical Venezuelan music is joropo, a rural form which originated in the llanos, or plains.
Kaseya Center is a multi-purpose arena on Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. The arena was previously named American Airlines Arena from opening in 1999 until 2021, FTX Arena from 2021 until 2023 following the bankruptcy of FTX, and Miami-Dade Arena during an interim period in 2023. Since April 2023, the naming rights to the arena are owned by Kaseya under a 17-year, $117.4 million agreement.
Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School is a public high school operated by Miami-Dade County Public Schools, located at 7977 West Twelfth Avenue in Hialeah, Florida, United States, on the boundary with the city of Miami Lakes.
Takehisa Kosugi was a Japanese composer, violinist and artist associated with the Fluxus movement.
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is a performing arts center located in Miami, Florida. It is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. According to Arts Management Magazine, the Arsht Center presents artists from around the world, innovative programming from its three resident companies and local arts partners, free community events that reflect Miami’s identity and arts education experiences for thousands of Miami children each year. Family Fest, Free Gospel Sundays, CommuniTea LGBTQ+ celebration and Heritage Fest are among dozens of free events the Arsht Center presents to bring together people from all walks of life to celebrate each other through the live performing arts. Since 2020, the Arsht Center has presented more than 100 pop-up performances at hospitals, parks and libraries in communities throughout Miami-Dade County.
The National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba is the main institution dedicated to the performance of classical music in Cuba
Sandra Binion is a Swedish-American artist based in Chicago whose artistic practice includes fine-art exhibitions, multimedia installations involving, and performance art. Her work has been performed and exhibited at museums, galleries, theaters, and festivals in the US, Europe, and Japan. Some of the venues that have featured her work include the Evanston Art Center, Link's Hall, Kunstraum (Stuttgart), The Goodman Theatre, and Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art.
The Florida Philharmonic Orchestra was a symphony orchestra based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and serving the South Florida metropolitan area. With approximately 80 full-time, tenured musicians, the orchestra was led for most of its existence by British conductor and music director James Judd. The orchestra folded after extensive financial problems, performing their last concert in Boca Raton, FL, on May 9, 2003.
The Miami Film Festival is an annual film festival in Miami, Florida, that showcases independent American and international films with a special focus on Ibero-American films. The competitive film festival draws international and local attention, with films being showcased in several venues across the city center and includes features, documentaries, short films, and retrospectives. The programming is selected so as to include: premiers for both established film-makers and up-and-commers, socially relevant films, multidisciplinary and experimental films, and films showcasing international musicians. The stated mission of the Miami Film Festival is to bridge cultural understanding and encourage artistic development.
Charles Recher was an American installation artist and filmmaker who lived and worked in Miami Beach, Florida. Recher created in excess of one hundred films and videos. His work ranged from the film "Kwagh-Hir ", a documentary of the theater tradition of the Tiv people of Nigeria, to "Cars & Fish", Miami Performing Arts Center's inaugural video installation, which cast 600-foot-long swirling images onto adjacent building façades during Art Basel/Miami Beach in 2005.
The Yucatán Symphony Orchestra (OSY) is a symphony orchestra based in Mérida, Yucatán, México. It was founded in 2004 and has maintained performances in the Mexican state of Yucatán ever since. Located in the Palacio de la Música and formerly in the José Peón Contreras theater, the orchestra performs 2-3 subscription concerts every month in addition to special community events in the Mérida area. Its previous guest conductors have included Maciej Żółtowski, Grigor Palikarov, and Michele Santorsola, and it has performed with soloists such as Jorge Federico Osorio, Carlos Prieto, Alexei Volodin, Stephanie Chase, and Leticia Moreno. Its current music director is José Areán.
Cristian Amigo is an American composer, improviser, guitarist, sound designer, and ethnomusicologist. His compositional and performing output includes blues and soul, music for the theater, chamber and orchestral music, opera, avant-jazz and rock music, and art/pop song. He has also recorded solo albums on the innova, Deep Ecology and BA labels. Amigo earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UCLA where he focused on the music of Chile, Peru, and Argentina, as well as anthropological theory, critical studies, and intercultural aesthetics. While in graduate school, he was second guitarist to the Peruvian Afro-Criollo guitarist Carlos Hayre, with whom he played in concerts and festivals including the World Festival of Sacred Music. He is currently composer-in-residence at INTAR Theater in New York City and Music/Design/Production Faculty @ CalArts School of Theater Department of Experience Design and Production in Valencia, California.
Julio Roloff is a Cuban composer that has collaborated with the Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica (LNME) founded by composer Juan Blanco, where he created numerous electroacoustic pieces.
The Hexagonal Galleries is an hour-long work by Cuban composer Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz.
Gustavo Matamoros is a Venezuelan composer, interdisciplinary artist, community organizer and educator who has established his residence in Miami, Florida, US, since 1979.
The guitar was the first instrument that was heard in Cuba after the conch horns, flutes and drums that the original aborigines used to play; as it was documented by Spanish chroniclers such as Bernal Díaz del Castillo. Through the centuries, the guitar has continued to be one of the most important and cherished instruments in Cuba, both in the practice of popular music as well as in the classical music tradition. Founded by renowned professors such as Clara Romero, Isaac Nicola, Clara (Cuqui) Nicola, Carlos Molina, and Marta Cuervo Riverón, the Cuban guitar school has acquired an excellent international reputation since the 20th century, represented by important instrumentalists and composers such as Leo Brouwer, Carlos Molina, José Rey de la Torre, Juan Antonio Mercadal and Joaquín Clerch, among many others.
Carlos Molina is a Cuban guitarist and professor.
Miguel Bonachea is a Cuban guitarist and professor.