Tango Fantasy

Tango Fantasy Press Quotes

“The soloist Temo’s rhythms were precise and fiery. Her rendition seemed to inspire an equally spirited and exact performance from the orchestra.” – The Armenian-Mirror Spectator, Clevaland, OH

“Temo’s rasqueados, as expected were exceptional.” – The Armenian-Mirror Spectator, Clevaland, OH

“Fingers flying, elbows erect, classical guitarist Marija Temo punctuates her performances with powerful flamenco strums.” - The Gazette, Gaithersburg, MD

Tango Fantasy combines the characteristic qualities of both the Argentinean Tango and the Flamenco Tango of Andalusia. Over the years, continents apart, these two dances of the same name have pursued their own individual paths and have developed their own distinct personalities. However, there are noticeable characteristics that hint at their common ancestry. In both dances, for example, we witness a compulsive need for the phrases to end in resolute and excited pulsation.

In March of 2007 the composer and his wife Deanna visited many cities in Andalusia, Spain and heard numerous excellent performances of flamenco music. The idea of composing Tango Fantasy germinated during that time in Spain. Melodic patterns of flamenco music have often been influenced by those of the Middle East, especially in the vocal renditions of flamenco. Tango Fantasy uses Middle Eastern melodies. Years ago, when flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya heard that the composer had lived in Baghdad, he said: “You have come from the land of my ancestors.”

Regardless of the many theories and studies that have traced the history of the two dances, the aim of Tango Fantasy was to create something new and that it does. The composition is in one movement and has a balanced formal ternary design. Unlike flamenco music the tonal centers constantly change. Themes of both dances are introduced in succession and develop in many guises that create strong contrapuntal textures. Sometimes they combine to create new units. Midway through the composition the pace slows down to a gentle presence where the inverted forms of the themes are introduced. The solo guitarist renders ornamental commentary on a gentle harmonic background. The opening passage is restated and the composition ends with an exciting coda. Tango Fantasy Is dedicated to the composer’s granddaughter Sosi Lyudmilla Swisher.

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ARTICLE, Wed. April 16, 2008, The Gazette, Gaithersburg, MD, by Patricia M. Murret, Staff Writer

Fingers flying, elbows erect, classical guitarist Marija Temo punctuates her performances with powerful flamenco strums. ‘I’m definitely combining the styles,” said Temo, 39, of Gaithersburg. ‘‘What’s really fun at this stage in my life is that I’m finally able to explore both the classical and the flamenco in my work.”

She was first drawn to flamenco at age 6, when the intensity of the music ‘‘gave me goose bumps” and made her feel as if she was being pulled through a tunnel into another world, she said during an interview in her Olde Towne apartment.

Trained as a virtuoso classical and flamenco guitarist, Temo is considered a ‘‘triple threat” in the symphony world, according to former teacher Loris Chobanian. Using her experience as a flamenco vocalist, dancer and conductor, she adapts flamenco styles and rhythms to classical Spanish guitar repertoires and performs them with an orchestra.

‘‘I figure if you love something enough, you continually find a way to make it work,” said Temo of charting her own path as a musician.

On March 5, Temo debuted ‘‘Tango Fantasy” in a performance at the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory in her native Akron, Ohio. She was accompanied by the Baldwin-Wallace Symphony Orchestra, and a live recording is now being prepared for release.

The music, written by Chobanian, Baldwin-Wallace’s composer-in-residence, combines characteristics of the Argentinean tango, flamenco tango of Andalusia, Spain and Middle Eastern melodies.

‘‘In the Spanish flamenco area, women are not considered to be classical guitarists,” Chobanian said. ‘‘They are only supposed to sing and dance and clap, but [Temo] could match any man in that capacity and do the rest of it too. I think many men are intimidated by her.”  The intuition Temo brings to her work goes well beyond technique and performing the notes, he said.

Temo began studying flamenco dance at 6, classical guitar at 8 and flamenco guitar at 11. She has performed flamenco professionally as a singer, dancer, guitarist and conductor since 16. But after she earned a Master of Music from the Johns Hopkins University Peabody Institute in Baltimore in 1993, she could pursue classical guitar competitions in hopes of gaining notoriety over time or continue her schooling with a goal of teaching at the university-level.

Temo decided to ‘‘up the ante” on her own and introduced flamenco into her classical guitar performances. The risk turned out to be a path of promise.

Temo has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at least 16 times, she said. She has performed with symphonies in Alexandria, Va., Hilton Head, S.C., Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and Ocean City, N.J. She has also given solo concerts at world-renowned guitar festivals in the U.S. and abroad.

Now Temo is finishing a flamenco guitar method book slated for publication by Mel Bay Publications Inc. in 2009. In the instructional book, Temo aims to meld the best of classical guitar techniques, forms and structure with flamenco styles and strums, typically learned by ear, she said.

Likewise, she has planned a May workshop with Swedish flamenco dancer Ulrika Frank to help flamenco dancers, guitarists and singers better enhance one another in their performances. The workshop, ‘‘Solving the Flamenco Puzzle with Ulrika Frank and Marija Temo” will be held at Collective Dance studio in Washington, D.C.

Temo points to imaginary students and asks what unique gifts each brings to a sheet of music. ‘‘When you’re on stage, you’re transmitting your individuality and your gift,” she said. ‘‘And how can you put a price on that?”

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This was the second composition for Guitar and Orchestra Chobanian had composed especially for Marija Temo. The flamenco-inspired Concierto Del Fuego, (Concerto of Fire) was premiered in 2001 with the BW Symphony Orchestra. Since the premiere, Temo has performed the concerto with many orchestras and appreciative audiences have consistently enthusiastically received the composition.

The three movements of Concierto Del Fuego present diverse characteristics, yet they are based on musical ideas that are homogenous. The thematic material for both the soloist and orchestra use a common language. Soundboard magazine hailed Concierto Del Fuego as the “Concerto of the Century.”

Tango Fantasy matches the flamenco inspired Concierto Del Fuego in vitality and substance. The composition combines elements from three continents in a fusion of Middle Eastern melodies, Spanish flamenco falsetas and Argentinean tango rhythms.

The program notes stated: “Tango Fantasy combines the characteristic qualities of both the Argentinean Tango and the Flamenco Tango of Andalusia. Over the years, continents apart, these two dances of the same name have pursued their own individual paths and have developed their own distinct personalities. However, there are noticeable characteristics that hint at their common ancestry. In both dances, for example, we witness a compulsive need for the phrases to end in resolute and excited pulsation.

In February 2007, the composer and his wife Deanna visited many cities in Andalusia, Spain and heard numerous excellent performances of flamenco music. The idea of composing Tango Fantasy germinated during that time in Spain. Melodic patterns of flamenco music have often been influenced by those of the Middle East, especially in the vocal renditions of flamenco. Tango Fantasy incorporates Middle Eastern melodies. Years ago, when flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya heard that the composer had lived in Baghdad, he stated: ‘You have come from the land of my ancestors.’

Regardless of the many theories and studies that have traced the history of the two dances, the aim of Tango Fantasy was to create something new and that it does. The composition is in one movement and has a balanced formal ternary design. Unlike flamenco music the tonal centers constantly change. Themes of both dances are introduced in succession and develop in many guises that create strong contrapuntal textures. Sometimes they combine to create new units. Midway through the composition the pace slows down to a gentle presence where the inverted forms of the themes are introduced. The solo guitarist renders ornamental commentary on a gentle harmonic background. The opening passage is restated and the composition ends with an exciting coda. Tango Fantasy is dedicated to the composer’s granddaughter Sosi Lyudmilla Swisher.

The soloist Temo’s rhythms were precise and fiery. Her rendition seemed to inspire an equally spirited and exact performance from the orchestra. Oltman’s beats were expressive and clear. The different characters of flamenco and that of Argentinean tango blended in succession as if they belonged together and they indeed complemented each other naturally. The Middle Eastern melodies were reminiscent of themes that are used to call for prayer. Temo’s rasqueados, as expected were exceptional. If there was anything disappointing about the Tango Fantasy, it is the fact that it could have been longer. The audience certainly was in the mood to hear a lot more.

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