SONA at Crystal Bridges: I Paint What I See

Friday, June 30, 2023
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Great Hall
7:00pm Chamber Orchestra Concert
6:00pm Champagne Reception with Felipe Tristán, Paul Haas, and Jen Padgett
In response to Diego Rivera’s controversial work Man at the Crossroads, which depicted his perception of the world through a confrontation of dichotomies, Rivera famously exclaimed, “I paint what I see.”
The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and Crystal Bridges collaborate to bring together the visionary voices of musical curator and conductor Felipe Tristán, a SoNA chamber orchestra, Music Director Paul Haas, and Crystal Bridges curator Jen Padgett. The collaboration will focus on the exhibition’s key themes, using the arts to highlight the profound beauty of the working class and everyday life, especially as it relates to Mexico’s mestizo and Indigenous roots.
Inspired by the Diego Rivera’s America exhibition, this special collaboration creates a musical program that sonically brings the artwork to life and deepens cultural connections across artforms, identities, and geographies. Evoking themes from Rivera’s quintessential nationalist style, this program features six Mexican composers representing a contrasting variety of themes, styles, and schools found in Mexican classical music, including music from Carlos Chávez, Silvestre Revueltas, Alejandro Basulto, and Gabriela Ortiz.