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Susan Campos—Fonseca:
La punta donde descansan los árboles

Release: May 01, 2026

Irreverence Group Music [IGM] presents La punta donde descansan los árboles, marking its world premiere with orchestra. Written by composer Susan Campos-Fonseca and developed in collaboration with violist Manuel Loaiza, the work unfolds at the intersection of electroacoustic practice and symphonic form. Premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Costa Rica (OSUCR) under the direction of Alejandro Gutiérrez-Mena, the piece extends Campos-Fonseca’s ongoing exploration of memory, territory, and the resonant body in relation to climate and historical consciousness.

Listen to La punta donde descansan los árboles

La punta donde descansan los árboles

  • Format: Single
    Release: February 27, 2026
    Catalogue: IGML-011
    GTIN/EAN/UPC: 4068992655550
    Producer: IGM
    Commissioned by Manuel Loaiza

  • Manuel Loaiza (Viola)
    Virginia Villalobos (Piano)

  • Susan Campos—Fonseca

  • n/a

  • Campos—Fonseca — La herida más luminosa

    01. La herida más luminosa

  • Commissioned by Manuel Loaiza
    Produced by Irreverence Group Music
    Music by Susan Campos—Fonseca

    Manuel Loaiza (Viola)
    Virginia Villalobos (Piano)

    Recorded & mixed
    by Carlos Escalante Macaya at Escuela de Artes Musicales, Universidad de Costa Rica,
    San José, Costa Rica
    Mastered by Julián De La Chica at IGMLab Music, Brooklyn, NY

    Album Notes by Susan Campos—Fonseca
    Artwork/Cover: Photography by Susan Campos—Fonseca
    Ⓟ & © IGM 2026

BUY & STREAM

Composer's NOTES

La punta donde descansan los árboles
By Susan Campos-Fonseca

La punta donde descansan los árboles for electroacoustic viola and orchestra emerges from a question: how can artistic research in musical composition engage with, and contribute to, the struggle for climate justice?

The answer was found in the southern Caribbean of Costa Rica, and in a word that preserves the memory of the resilience of the ocean, the land, and those who know how to live in harmony with nature. That word is Kawe-Ta, which in the Bribri language means: the tip of the tree that bleeds—Cahuita.

Within that word also reside the remnants of the ships used to traffic human beings torn from their land and enslaved—African people who refused to relinquish their cultural memory and dignity.

Today, Cahuita loses more than two centimeters of coastline each year due to the climate crisis and our insatiable greed… this music brings that loss into presence.

We call upon Yemayá. Bring justice.

Susan Campos—Fonseca
Manuel Loaiza & Virginia Villalobos
©Johanna Bacca, 2026

About the author

Susan Campos—Fonseca
Photography: self-portrait

Campos—Fonseca is Associate Professor at the University of Costa Rica (UCR). She holds a PhD in Music and a Master’s degree in Spanish and Ibero-American Thought from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Music Conducting (Orchestra and Band) from UCR. A teacher and researcher specializing in musicology, sonic studies, and the philosophy of culture and technology, her creative practice as an improviser-composer and multi-instrumentalist spans electroacoustic music, instrumental musique concrète, spectralism, and post-minimalism.