1. The Cuban Guaguanco, a type of rumba, originated with rhythms brought by slaves from Africa in the 1800’s. Early musical instruments for rumba included common household items such as the side of a cabinet, an overturned drawer, or a pair of spoons. The opening five bar Afro lament sets the tone of the work.

2. The Mexican Huapango is often danced atop a wooden platform which enhances the percussive sounds dancers make with their shoes. The metre of this piece alternates between 6/8 and 3/4.

3. Acámbaro, a simple waltz with an A section and B section repeated, is named after a local restaurant here in the Ozark Mountains, which was in turn named for the owners’ home town in the southeastern corner of Guanajuato, Mexico.

4. The flavour of Calle Ocho (8th Street) in old Miami is reminiscent of the Cuba of yesteryear and the Afro-Caribbean music of my youth is still heard on every corner. This piece features a sustained melody in the bass accompanied by a more rhythmic underpinning in the piano accompaniment.

5. The Colla Tempestada is a storm of the Philippines whose features include strong southwestern winds accompanied by heavy rains. The work begins in a somewhat dramatic manner (the storm) which eventually calms to a lull before returning “Con Fuoco” for an exciting last few bars.

(Programme notes by Lourdes C. Montgomery)

Born in Havana, Cuba, Lourdes C. Montgomery moved to the United States at age five. She studied jazz piano at Miami-Dade Community College with Sanford Gold and, at the University of Miami, music composition with Dr. Dennis Kam as well as classical piano with Dr. Rosalina Sackstein. Many of Lourdes’ sacred and liturgical compositions are published by Oregon Catholic Press, who also produced her CD entitled “De La Cruz a la Gloria”, and World Library Publications.

In 2008, Lourdes was honored to have her song Bienaventurados (“The Beatitudes”) was performed at the mass of Pope Benedict XVI that was held at the National Stadium in Washington, D.C., and televised nationally. In 2005 Lourdes became music director at St. Vincent de Paul Church in the Ozark Mountains of NW Arkansas, where she now lives with her double bassist husband Michael Montgomery.