Music Director to Guest Conduct in Argentina

As part of Argentina’s celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the International Astronomical Union, the Tucumán Province Permanent Orchestra will present a gala concert entitled “Music and Stars:  100 Years Under the Same Sky”on March 30, 2019 in the San Martín Theatre, San Miguel de Tucumán City, Tucumán Province, Argentina.   

The guest conductor for the concert will be Dr. Carl Christensen, Music Director and Conductor of Monterey County Pops!  

The concert is presented by the Cultural Department of the Province of Tucumán and San Pablo-Tucumán University.  

Tucumán, the fifth largest city in Argentina (population 550,000), is located 815 miles north of Buenos Aires.   The program is a joint project of Christensen and Dr. Olga Pintado, astronomer, PhD in physics, and researcher with the Argentine National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).  The concert will feature music with a space or astronomical theme (dramatic classical selections, Star Wars, Star Trek, 2001 Space Odessey) played by the symphony orchestra with projections of astronomical images curated by Dr. Pintado.  

Christensen, who is bilingual, began his contacts in Latin America when he played trombone in the symphony orchestras of Mexico City in the 1970’s.  These contacts resulted in invitations to guest conduct symphonic pops concerts in Mexico, Guatemala, and Argentina.  He conducted every July in Tucumán from 2002 to 2010.  

The concert will also feature the young Spanish pianist, Raúl Canosa, who is currently a graduate student at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles, performing Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 by Frédéric Chopin.

As a lifelong astronomy hobbyist, he sought out fellow astronomy enthusiasts in Argentina and met Dr. Pintado.  Together they have dreamed of presenting a concert that would combine dramatic symphonic music with state-of-the-art astronomical images. The project has come to fruition with the support of the Cultural Department of the Province of Tucumán and the San Pablo-Tucumán University, where Dr. Pintado teaches astronomy and coordinates activities that integrate science and the arts.