In conjunction with the current exhibition “Kahlo: An Expanded Body,” on Friday, February 10 at 6 p.m., pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner will perform a program of music, largely comprising Mexican composers, informed by and paying homage to the life, loves and art of Frida Kahlo. The program includes works by Jesús González Rubio, Pepe Guízar, Manuel Ponce and Carlos Chávez — who was a close friend of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo — as well as compositions inspired by Mexican and Spanish culture by Leonard Bernstein and Claude Debussy.
The concert begins with a historic protest dance of Mexican revolutionaries during their War of Independence against the Spanish Empire that evolved into a popular folk melody: the “Mexican Hat Dance” (Jarabe Tapatío). Following are works by Chávez, one of Mexico’s most prominent composers, including “Preludios Aztecas” — referencing his interest in the same indigenous themes and raw elements that inspired Kahlo.
Part two parallels Kahlo’s travels to New York, with Leonard Bernstein’s “Mambo,” based on the Mexican/Cuban dance; “Paris,” with a piece by Claude Debussy inspired by Granada, Spain and acknowledges Kahlo’s relationship with the Russian exile Leon Trotsky with Sergei Prokofiev’s “Scherzo” from Sonata No. 2.
Part three brings the focus back to Mexico, just as Kahlo returned from her travels abroad, beginning with Sanchez-Werner’s transcription of Pepe Guizar’s folk song “Guadalajara” — the city of his mother’s birth. The program concludes with two rhapsodic pieces in the Romantic style by Manuel Ponce, who had a profound influence on 20th-century Mexican music.
Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner holds multiple degrees from Juilliard and Yale, and was named a Gilmore Young Artist, an honor awarded to the most promising American pianists. He has performed at the White House and Kennedy Center for Presidents Obama and Biden, and has been featured on NPR, PBS, CNN International, the Wall Street Journal and WDR-Arte. Sanchez-Werner’s recent international performances include The Royal Concertgebouw in the Netherlands, CultureSummit Abu Dhabi, the Louvre and Grenoble museums in France, among other prominent venues.
Tickets are $35 ($25 museum members, $20 students, $10 children). Advance ticket purchase with preevent registration is recommended at parrishart.org. Limited tickets will be available at the door. The Parrish Art Museum is at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill.