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Paquito D’Rivera wrote Concerto Venezolano specifically to showcase the versatility of Venezuelan-born trumpeter Pacho Flores. It is part of a worldwide project to expand the repertoire for trumpet concertos by multiple composers including Arturo Márquez, Robert Sierra, Christian Linberg, Daniel Freiberg and Efrain Oscher.
The work’s premiere in January 2019, was presented by Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería under Carlos Miguel Prieto in Mexico. The performance was recorded and is available on the album “Estirpe” (Deutsche Grammophon). Concerto Venezolano was commissioned by Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orquesta de Valencia and the San Diego Symphony. Concerto Venezolano won honors for best classical contemporary composition at the 2023 Latin Grammys.
Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, under Carlos Miguel Prieto, will perform the work, with Flores again as soloist, in its SCP Special Concert Jan. 18.
The COVID-10 pandemic delayed subsequently scheduled performances. In 2022, the work received its second performance in the United Kingdom, with Flores as soloist and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Domingo Hindoyan. The concert is available online.
The work had its third performance on Sept. 3, 2022, in Valencia, Spain, by the Orquestra de Valencia, with Flores as soloist, and conductor Manuel Hernandez-Silva. It subsequently was performed in 2022 in the United States by the San Diego Symphony, with Flores as soloist, under conductor Rafael Payare for three concerts in Costa Mesa, San Diego and Palm Desert, California. D’Rivera attended the concert in San Diego.
“The concerts of this project of shared commissions are specifically written for the extraordinary conditions of Pacho Flores," said D’Rivera in a statement, "and the varied instruments provided by the Valencian house Stomvi, which has developed new four-piston prototypes in new keys that greatly expand the tessitura and range of colors and timbres of this instrument.”
