Jaime León
"Jaime Leon"
Jaime León (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, December 18, 1921 – Bogotá, 2015 Pianist, Conductor, and Composer.
Early life:Born in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on December 18, 1921, his parents were Alicia Ferro Roman and Luis Enrique León Lozada. From a young age, he was in contact with music thanks to the influence of his parents, who cultivated music in their home and stimulated the young León to begin his studies. He received his first music lessons from his father.https://www.radionacional.co/noticia/fallecio-el-compositor-jaime-leon
Career:In 1924, his family moved to the United States, first to San Francisco and then to New York. In 1929, he began private piano lessons with maestro Leo Holtz and with a Cuban maestro whose last name was Fuentes.
In 1935, the family returned to Colombia where the young musician continued his studies with private piano teachers until 1937 when he entered the National University of Colombia Conservatory to study the piano. His teachers were Lucia Perez and Tatiana Gontschrova.
In 1941, León moved to New York City where he was accepted at The Juilliard School of Music of Music to continue his upper-level studies in piano. His teachers were Russian Josef Levine and German Carl Friedberg, who was one of the last disciples of Clara Wieck-Schumann. He obtained his university degree in piano in 1945.https://www.amazon.com/Colombian-Art-Song-Analysis-Compilation/dp/0981720412?tag=everybodywikien-20
Later, León won a scholarship to continue his orchestral direction and composition studies at Juilliard under the guidance of maestros Edgard Schenkmann, Vittorio Giannini and Bernard Wagenaar. In the course of his studies, León traveled to Colombia where he gave piano recitals to a warm reception from the audience and critics. In 1947, León was named the director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, replacing maestro Guillermo Espinosa. For this reason, he interrupted his studies at Juilliard and returned to Colombia where he began an important task at the head of the orchestra. In this same year, he met Beatriz Carreño Mutis, the secretary of the National Conservatory of Music, whom he married in 1949.
While he was head of the orchestra, León also distinguished himself as a piano professor at the Conservatory of the National University of Colombia. He held the position of director for approximately two years until he decided to return to the United States. There he served as the director of numerous orchestras, in opera productions, and musical theater.https://www.amazon.com/Colombian-Art-Song-Analysis-Compilation/dp/0981720412?tag=everybodywikien-20
In 1955, maestro León was named Assistant Director of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra. As the head of this orchestra, he traveled to various countries in Europe and the Middle East and appeared in many of the most important theaters in the world. He kept this position until 1958.
From that time on, he began his affiliation with various orchestras and opera and musical theater companies in the United States, such as the Dallas State Fair Orchestra in Texas, where he directed opera and musical theater productions, and the Theater Under the Stars (TUTS) company orchestra of Atlanta, Georgia, which he led until 1960.
In 1968, he returned to direct the American Ballet Theater Orchestra, this time as the principal director, the position he held until 1972 when he returned definitively to Colombia as Director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota.
His task as a composer of songs began in 1951 when he wrote his first song for voice and piano: Aves y ensueños. This song was the first of a large number of art songs inspired by poems of Colombian poets.
His vocal work began to be heard in the 70s when artists like Colombian soprano Carmiña Gallo started to include his songs in recitals. The first recordings of León’s songs were made in Washington D.C. at Catholic University under the sponsorship of the Organization of American States.
León has fulfilled an important pedagogical task in Colombia and has served as Colombian cultural ambassador at a international level.
His work as a conductor and leader in the cultural area in Colombia left its mark on various generations of Colombian musicians.
In 1977, León joined Colcultura (Colombian Institute of Culture) as music adviser. Among the positions that he has held in the country, those that stand out are Director of the Colón Theater in Bogota, Associate Director of the Colombian Symphony Orchestra, and Director for the Colombian opera company. He appeared as guest conductor in all of the Colombian orchestras, directing national and foreign soloists.
Achievements:In 1988, he received the Order of Artistic Merit in recognition of his long and fruitful career and his invaluable contribution to the musical life of the country. Among the awards León received are the awards by the Ministry of Culture in 2001 and by the Popayan Festival of Religious Music with the “Edmundo Mosquera Troya” Order in 2003. He received the Order of Philharmonic Merit awarded by the Philharmonic Orchestra in 1996 and 2005, along with recognition of his musical career. He also received the Order of Philharmonic Merit awarded by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota on August 15, 2007. http://www.mincultura.gov.co/prensa/noticias/Paginas/2012-10-09_50170.aspx,[1] [2] In 2009, the Barcelona Festival of Song, a Summer Program dedicated to the study of the history and interpretation of the Latin-American & Spanish vocal repertoire, honored Jaime Leon by dedicating a series of concerts, lectures, and classes to the study of his vocal music.
León also composed works for piano and orchestra such as a piece entitled Tema y variaciones (Theme and Variations), a work for two pianos called Remembranzas (Remembrances), the preludes Made in USA, and a Triptych for piano composed of a nocturne, a cumbia, and a pasillo. This work is dedicated to pianists Harold Martina, Helvia Mendoza, and Pablo Arevalo respectively. Among his symphonic productions, we find Variations on a Theme of Bizet and his very beautiful Misa Breve, premiered at the Popayan Festival of Religious Music in 1980.https://www.amazon.com/Colombian-Art-Song-Analysis-Compilation/dp/0981720412?tag=everybodywikien-20
Because of his desire to elevate the musical level in Colombia, and because of his work as a cultural ambassador and teacher, Jaime León was without a doubt one of the most important names in art music in twentieth-century Colombia.
As a composer, Jaime León’s vocal works are positioning itself at an international level as one of the most outstanding in Latin America. This fact is due in significant part to the work of soprano and musicologist Patricia Caicedo, who is committed to preserving and promoting his work. In 2009 she published two books with Leon´s complete vocal works. These volumes provide not only the sheet music but also interpretative guides, IPA transcriptions, poetry translation and a study about Leon and the poets he chose. Patricia Caicedo also recorded two CDs with his vocal works. Thanks to these efforts, León´s music is a growing presence in concert programs of the most important concert series in the world all confirm this fact.[3] [4]
Refrences.
Links
https://www.radionacional.co/noticia/fallecio-el-compositor-jaime-leon
https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-768264
https://www.semana.com/cultura/articulo/se-fue-jaime-leon-un-grande-de-la-musica/427566-3
http://patrimoniocultural.bogota.unal.edu.co/eventos/article/homenaje-al-maestro-jaime-leon.html
Patricia Caicedo
http://www.mincultura.gov.co/prensa/noticias/Paginas/2012-10-09_50170.aspx
https://www.amazon.com/Colombian-Art-Song-Analysis-Compilation/dp/0981720412?tag=everybodywikien-20
https://www.amazon.com/Colombian-Art-Song-Analysis-Compilation/dp/0981720412?tag=everybodywikien-20 http://www.sedem.es/upload/revista/70.%20Vol%20XXXV%20n%C2%BA2_070.pdf
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24246280?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/8720819
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CpbF2SdB7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CpbF2SdB7w
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- ↑ In 2005 the EAFIT University of Medellín dedicated its third week of contemporary music to his work Leon. In 2009 , the Barcelona Festival of Song, a summer course dedicated to the promotion and study of the Ibero-American vocal repertoire, honored his figure by scheduling lectures, concerts and classes dedicated to the study of his work. In 2013 the Ministry of Culture honored him with a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra in which his Brevis Mass and the Children's Songs were performed by Patricia Caicedo .
- ↑ Although most of his compositions are songs for voice and piano , he also composed works for piano only as his Tema y variaciones, the preludes Made in USA, Remembranzas and a Triptych for piano composed of a Nocturne, a Cumbia and a Pasillo. This last work dedicated to the pianists Harold Martina, Helvia Mendoza and Pablo Arévalo respectively. Among his symphonic productions we find Variaciones sobre un tema de Bizet and his beautiful Misa Breve premiered at the Popayán Religious Music Festival in 1980. Thanks to the publication in 2009 of two volumes with his work for voice and piano this part of his work is gaining great international recognition and is nowadays performed on stages around the world. His songs are part of the curriculum of the Barcelona Festival of Song that every year receives singing students from around the world. His songs have been recorded by Patricia Caicedo and Nikos Stavlas for Mundo Arts Records.
- ↑ León died on May 11, 2015 at his home in Bogotá, accompanied by his wife of over sixty years, Beatriz Carreño Mutis . . For his tireless work to raise the musical level in Colombia and for his work as cultural ambassador and pedagogue, Jaime León is undoubtedly one of the most important figures of artistic music in the twentieth century in Colombia and the United States .
- ↑ http://patrimoniocultural.bogota.unal.edu.co/eventos/article/homenaje-al-maestro-jaime-leon.html https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-768264 https://www.worldcat.org/title/cancion-artistica-colombiana-jaime-leon-analisis-y-compilacion-de-su-obra-para-voz-y-piano-the-colombian-art-song-jaime-leon-analysis-and-compilation-of-his-works-for-voice-and-piano/oclc/384268498 http://www.sedem.es/upload/revista/70.%20Vol%20XXXV%20n%C2%BA2_070.pdf https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/8720819 https://www.academia.edu/35924004/The_Colombian_Art_Song_Jaime_Le%C3%B3n_Analysis_and_Compilation_of_his_works_for_voice_and_piano_Vol.2 https://www.jstor.org/stable/24246280?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents https://www.radionacional.co/noticia/fallecio-el-compositor-jaime-leon https://www.semana.com/cultura/articulo/se-fue-jaime-leon-un-grande-de-la-musica/427566-3 https://www.facebook.com/MinisterioCultura/posts/jaime-le%C3%B3n-ferro-es-uno-de-los-m%C3%BAsicos-m%C3%A1s-prominentes-de-la-historia-de-la-m%C3%BAsi/430778493646107/
