78TH SEASON OF

CONCERTS

national gallery of art | october 13, 2019
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PROGRAM

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Brandon Ridenour, trumpet

Cordeone, accordion/voice 

Achilles Liarmakopoulos, trombone 

Jorge Glem, cuatro

Bam Rodríguez, bass

Vamos Juntos

October 13, 2019 | 3:30

West Building, West Garden Court

The program will be announced from the stage.

Brandon Ridenour, photo by Jiyang Chen
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THE MUSICIANS

Brandon Ridenour

A virtuoso trumpeter and composer, Brandon Ridenour’s brilliance and self-assurance 

on the concert stage led to his victory at the Concert Artists Guild Competition and a 

thriving career worldwide. Recognized as “the trumpet of the future” (Chicago Sun 

Times) and for “demonstrating the trumpet’s huge potential for lyricism” (Cleveland 

Plain Dealer), he has combined his wide-ranging activities as a soloist and chamber 

musician with his passion for composing and arranging, resulting in his distinctive 

artistic voice and vision.

Ridenour began arranging music for trumpet as both a solo and collaborative 

instrument in order to expand the instrument’s possibilities, including the melding of 

musical styles and a new cross-genre repertoire. His arrangements are featured by such 

ensembles as Founders and USEFUL Chamber, and have been performed extensively 

by Canadian Brass, of which Ridenour, at the age of twenty, was the youngest member 

to join.

Active in the recording studio, Ridenour’s latest release, Come Together, features 

his arrangements of Beatles’ songs scored for a diverse array of instrumentations. The 

record celebrates the 50th anniversary of this Lennon and McCartney classic, and Ridenour 

hopes to convey through music the importance of humanity coming together. 

Ridenour has appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, the 

Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Indianapolis and Edmonton Symphony Orchestras. 

He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the International Contemporary 

Ensemble, the Knights, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. 

His other solo performances include the Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Hall, and 

Carnegie Hall, including his 2016 Weill Recital Hall debut and a recent Stern Auditorium 

performance of “Penny Lane,” alongside Sting and James Taylor. 

Cordeone

Cordeone began his musical journey playing in Portuguese balls at the age of nine. First 

studying the accordion for three years, he went on to teach himself to play piano, classical 

guitar, Portuguese guitar, Brazilian percussion, drums, and the bass. 

In 1998, Cordeone embarked on a professional career in music. For more than ten 

years, he’s worked and collaborated with Jah Mason, Turbulence, Norrisman, and Big 

Joe Turner and His Memphis Blues Caravan. Cordeone strives to compose music that 

best represents his personal and artistic identity.

In Vida, Cordeone’s first album, he created an eclectic representation of his 

musical inventiveness, borrowing from jazz, fado, Brazilian music, funk, reggae, and 

hip-hop. Lyrics are sung in both Portuguese and French, with themes that shine a 

spotlight on some of the issues facing modern society. Often approached from a 

positive standpoint, each song puts forward a message of peace, respect, and unity. 

The work is a somewhat autobiographical depiction of the artist’s vision of life, influenced by experiences that have shaped him as a person. 

Achilles Liarmakopoulos 

Award-winning trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos has dazzled audiences worldwide. 

As a member of the legendary Canadian Brass, Liarmakopoulos has toured extensively 

throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, performing and educating in the world’s 

most important venues and institutions.

Liarmakopoulos holds degrees from Yale University’s School of Music, the Curtis 

Institute of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory, and the Philippos Nakas Conservatory 

in his hometown of Athens, Greece. Upon completion of his studies, he won the position 

of principal trombone of the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra. Liarmakopoulos has 

also appeared with the Malaysian Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the 

European Union Youth Orchestra. He continues to perform around the world with 

Pink Martini and has also played with salsa icon Ruben Blades. He is an adjunct trombone professor at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College.

Jorge Glem

Award-winning cuatro player, mandolinist, and musical producer Jorge Glem is one of 

Venezuela’s musical treasures. Born in Cumaná, Venezuela, Glem currently resides in New 

York City, and has set out with a clear and driven purpose of presenting the Venezuelan 

cuatro as a universal instrument. His amazing talent and purpose have allowed him 

to share the stage with world-renowned musicians, including Paquito D’Rivera, Jordan 

Rudess, Rubén Blades, Carlos Vives, Calle 13, Natalia Lafoucarde, Gaby Moreno, Guaco, 

Desorden Público, Ensamble Gurrufío, Gualberto Ibarreto, and Etienne Charles.

Glem has been the winner of prestigious awards, such as El Silbón de Oro, Siembra 

del Cuatro, and three Pepsi music awards for his album En El Cerrito. With three productions of his own, Glem is also currently collaborating with folk accordionist Sam 

Reider, as well as with Cuban-Venezuelan pianist, composer, and arranger, César Orozco. 

In 2019, Glem and Orozco successfully released their first album together, titled Stringwise.
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Bam Rodríguez

Bassist Bam Rodríguez started his career with the prestigious El Sistema youth orchestra 

program in Venezuela, where he performed and toured the country with others, including Gustavo Dudamel. Soon after, he moved to Belgium and the Netherlands to pursue 

his studies.

Rodríguez resides in New York City, where he has toured, recorded, and performed 

with Chucho Valdés, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, 

Deepak Chopra, Claudia Acuña, and Ray Santos. Rodríguez regularly performs and gives 

workshops in New York, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South and North America, 

and the Caribbean.

Edmond Lebel, Still Life of Musical Instruments, c. 1863, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Robert B. Menschel Fund, 

2006.109.1

Upcoming Events of the SeventyEighth Season of The William Nelson 

Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin Concerts

Unless otherwise noted, concerts 

are held in the West Building, West 

Garden Court.

Ran Dank and Soyeon Kate Lee, pianists

Piano solo and duo works, featuring music 

by Bach, Liszt, Enrique Granados, and 

Nikolai Kapustin, and a world premiere 

by composer Marc-André Hamelin. 

October 20, 3:30

Sound Sketch

Jacqueline Pollauf, harp

Lamentations, Prayers, and Meditations 

in Contemporary Art and Music

East Building Library

October 25, 12:10

Slavic Soul Party!

Far East Suite

A reimagination of Duke Ellington’s 

Far East Suite with an Eastern European 

brass band twist!

October 27, 3:30

Gaelynn Lea, singer-songwriter and 

violinist

Presented in honor of Disability 

Employment Awareness Month

October 29, 12:10

West Building Lecture Hall

General Information

Admission to the National Gallery of Art 

and all of its programs is free of charge, 

except as noted.

The use of cameras or recording 

equipment during the performance 

is not allowed.

Please be sure that all portable electronic 

devices are turned off.

—

Concerts are made possible in part 

through the generosity of donors to the 

National Gallery of Art through The Circle. 

Reserved seating is available in recognition 

of their support. Please contact the 

development office at (202) 842-6450 or 

circle@nga.gov for more information.

—

The department of music produced 

these program notes. Copyright © 2019 

Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, 

Washington

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NGA.GOV/MUSIC