Playlist for the week of February 19, 2021

When I was asked to create a playlist for Metropolis Radio I thought it would be a difficult task for an avid listener like myself— how could I reduce 30 years of love for deep listening, discovering and learning new repertoire, to a short selection of 15 tracks?

The concept of a playlist is contradictory to what I always believed (I collect Cds and Vinyls), but now listening for a couple of days to the songs that made it for my playlist for Metropolis I am starting to change my mind, and I like that. It was also great to finally learn about Spotify.

I consider my musical taste very broad. I like to listen to as much diverse music as possible, and I strive to do the same in my work as a composer, performer and educator. Even though a madrigal by Carlo Gesualdo could seem very distant from a Jazz tune by Brad Mehldau, I feel that both have the ability to take the listener on a transcendent journey. In addition, I highlighted with pride the grand diversity of music from my native Brazil, ranging from the sophisticated popular music of Milton Nascimento and Djavan to the complexity of Egberto Gismonti and Camargo Guarnieri.

The ways each of the composers (and performers) in this playlist achieve this powerful communication with the listener vary according to their own artistry, but I can hint that harmony, balance, counterpoint, space, and rhythm attract me to these chosen works. —João Luiz

About João Luiz

Two time Latin Grammy nominee guitarist, educator, and composer João Luiz, began to play the popular music of his native Brazil professionally during his childhood and was later trained in classical guitar by his mentor Henrique Pinto. Winner of the 2006 Concert Artists Guild Competition as a member of the critically acclaimed Brasil Guitar Duo, João has performed extensively in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

His arrangements and compositions have been recorded and played by Marina Piccinini, Paquito DiRivera, Clarice Assad, Bridget Kibbey, Sybarite 5, among others. Luiz’s Harp Concerto Recife written for Bridget Kibbey was premiered by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in 2019, and by the Metropolis Ensemble in 2020. Recent commissions include works for the USC Thornton School of Music guitar department, Octeto Sicarú, GFA, and Duo Sonidos.

Eager to expand the repertoire of his instrument João has commissioned and premiered works written for him by Sérgio Assad, Leo Brouwer, Clarice Assad, David Leisner, Paulo Bellinati, Marco Pereira, Ronaldo Miranda, David Sampson, and Frederic Hand. João is the director of chamber music at CUNY Hunter College and also teaches guitar at Stony Brook University. More »

Metropolis Radio: Fill your day with music from the Metropolis community

In 2020-21, we created a weekly series of curated Spotify playlists from Metropolis composers and performers. We supported over 40 artists directly through this project during the pandemic.