Voces de America Latina offers window on new music in the Americas

The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), writes The New York Times, is “one of the most accomplished and adventurous groups in new music.” On Friday April 17 and Saturday April 18 at 8 p.m. in Paine Hall, ICE will present “Voces de America Latina,” conducted by Steven Schick and presented by the Fromm Players at Harvard.

“Voces de America Latina” is a window on today’s vibrant new-music scene throughout the Americas. The composers represented here hail from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, and Spain. Some made their careers in the United States or Europe. Others had significant artistic experiences abroad, then returned home. Together they form a multigenerational, multinational Latina/o network that extends beyond stylistic boundaries.

Friday and Saturday’s programs include four works never heard before in Boston, and one US Premiere.

Cuban composer Leo Brouwer wrote the film score for “Like Water for Chocolate”; his “Parabola,” inspired by the artist Paul Klee, is programmed for Saturday’s concert. Fellow Cuban composer, Grammy-nominated Tania León, famously collaborates with artists outside her genre (writers Margaret Atwood and Derek Wolcott, theater director Julie Taymor). León has pieces on both Friday’s and Saturday’s program, and she co-curated “Voces” with Music Department Chair Carol J. Oja. On Thu., April 16 at 4 p.m. in Farkas Hall Studio (10-12 Holyoke Street, Cambridge), the OFA hosts a public interview of León by Alejandro Madrid. Pulitzer prize-winning Mario Davidovsky’s “Divertimento for 8 — Ambiguous Symmetries” will have its Boston premiere.