Campos-Fonseca's La punta donde descansan los árboles
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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.
Photo 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.