2001 Latino Heritage Local Heroes: Juan Pedro Gaffney
Founder and Music Director of Coro Hispano
Juan Pedro Gaffney is a native San Franciscan who began organizing and directing choruses at the age of 18. When, in 1963, at age 25, he signed on with Acción, a Peace corps alternative working in Latin America, he was an accomplished singer, organist and choir director. He was sent to Venezuela where he was astounded to discover a complex, exciting choral music that was strictly Venezuelan. And, as he was to discover as he travelled throughout the continent, the music varied dramatically throughout the continent. The choral music of Latin America was a virtual gold mine of musical treasures waiting to be heard . He was delighted with both the beauty, the high musical quality and the rhythmic complexity of the music. He could not help but wonder why he, who had been immersed in choral music from the age of 12, had never heard music of this genre in San Francisco. When he returned in 1965 his determination to introduce the music he had discovered throughout South America to Bay Area audiences became a vital part of his musical identity. It was this vision that was to become a strong moving force in his music career and life’s work. Today, the music of our Latino musical heritage, and the cultural values intrinsic to the music are Mr. Gaffney's "raison d’etre."
When, in 1975 he was commissioned to provide historically and culturally appropriate music for the celebration of the bicentennary anniversary of the founding of the Mission and City of San Francisco he had already done the research and knew where he could retrieve the music composed at the time of the of the dedication. He recognized this celebration of the founding of the city of San Francisco as a real opportunity to realize his long-held vision to create a Latino chorus from within the Latino community that would be exclusively devoted to the celebration of the musical heritage of its peoples.
Mr. Gaffney simultaneously arranged for the purchase of the archived music, created a musical ensemble made up of amateurs from the Latino community who were joined by professional instrumentalists and soloists to perform at the bicentennial, and created a research team to transcribe the music. In February 1976, before the June celebration, the new group performed for the first time for over five hundred people who had seen posters tacked throughout the neighborhood announcing "Concierto de Musíca Latina, FREE." A large number in attendance were Latino families who had turned out to hear the first concert performed by the City’s first Latino classical chorus. They stood and applauded for more than 5 minutes at the end of the concert.
Today Mr. Gaffney’s vision has been realized by the creation and success of: Coro Hispano de San Francisco, the Latino community chorus, Conjunto Nuevo Mundo, its professional arm of Latino soloists and instrumentalists and Instituto Pro Música de California, the non-profit arts/educational/presenting institute which oversees and administrates all of the non-musical tasks needed to promote the music and needs of the performers. IPMC’s Latin American Musicological Research Program that has made Coro and Conjunto’s unique repertory accessible in modern performance editions, and its development program has provided the funding needed to retrieve the music.
Over the last 26 years Coro and Conjunto have showcased many of the choral masterworks of Latin America, Spain and Portugal, premiering more than ten works by contemporary Latin composers and repremiering more than fifty by the Baroque and Renaissance masters of Iberoamérica, in their three hundred plus concerts throughout California, Nevada, and in three international festivals and symposia abroad.
For many years Coro and Conjunto have been regarded as the premiere Spanish-language performing ensemble in California. For more information, please write to IPMC at 295 Sanchez St., San Francisco CA 94114, by email at info@corohispano.org, by phone (415) 431-4234 or visit our website at www.corohispano.org
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