Alba Potes

Catalog of Compositions

Orchestral Music

Tukanos (2011) for guitar and chamber orchestra. Commissioned by Nilko Andreas Guarín and the Azlo Orchestra. Vince Lee, Conductor. World Premiere, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York. 11/11/2011. Duration: 12:00

Todavía (Still) (2011) for soprano or tenor, mixed chorus, and chamber orchestra (SSAATTBB) (16 voices) Text by Aurelio Arturo. (Version available for mixed chorus a capella). Duration: 10:00

Cantares para Orquesta (Songs for Orchestra) (2000) Excerpt from Las Palabras. Selected by The Women's Philharmonic New Music Reading Sessions. Mary Chun, conductor. Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, 6/15/02
Premiered by the Orquesta Filarmónica Nacional de Venezuela, XVI Festival Internacional de Música Latinoamericana. Germán Cáceres, Conductor, Asociación Cultural Humboldt, Caracas. 5/29/10. Duration: 12:00

De Las Travesuras y Percances del Amor (Pleasures and misfortunes of love) (1999) cantata for soprano, tenor, chorus and chamber orchestra; texts by Colombian poet León De Greiff. Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia. Duration: 14:00

Las Palabras (Words) (1997) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra; texts by Octavio Paz. Dedicated to David Diehl.
Duration: 35:00

Reflexiones (Reflections) (1991) for violin, viola, violoncello and string orchestra. Winner of the 1994 Riverside Symphony's First International Composers Reading Project in New York. George Rothman, Conductor. Miller Theater, Columbia University, NYC. Premiered by the National Symphony of Colombia. Luis Biava, conductor. Teatro Colón, Bogotá, 7/10/92 . Duration: 9:00

Theater Works

Comala (2020-) Opera in three acts based on the novel Pedro Páramo. Libretto by Alba Potes. (work in progress)

Pedro Páramo (2015) Cantata for narrator, tenor, baritone, mixed chorus and four instruments (fl./bass fl., cl./bass cl., perc. and vlc.). Commissioned and premiered by Cantori New York. Dedicated to Mark Shapiro. Based on the novel Pedro Páramo by Mexican writer Juan Rulfo. Text adaptation by S. Jenny Potes-Curci. Peter Tantsits, tenor, Dan Kempson, baritone and Alfonso Díaz, narrator. Church of St. Luke in the Fields. 5/16/2015. Duration: 60:00

Tregua Infinita (Boundless Truce) (2002) for reciter, alto saxophone and harpsichord. Commissioned by Marshall Taylor. Texts by Alba L. Potes. Premiered by Marshal Taylor, Joyce Lindorff and Stella Potes. Rock Hall, Philadelphia, 4/21/02. Duration: 16:30

Chamber Music

Whispers of the Trees (Susurros de los árboles) (2024) Quintet with flute/bass flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, viola, bassoon/contrabassoon and percussion. Dedicated to Konstantinos Margetis. Commissioned by the Esbjerg Ensemble, Denmark.

Y la brisa trae aroma de cadmia (and the breeze carries a scent of cadmia) (2024) Version for ten instruments (fl./piccolo, ob., cl., bn/cbn., fn., vl.1, vl.2, vla., vlc., and percussion) Commissioned by Esbjerg Ensemble. Scheduled premiere at Musikhuset Esbjerg Havnegade 18, Esbjerg, Denmark. March 14, 2024. Duration: 9:00

Pulsando el Aire (Pulsing the Air) (2023) for electric guitar quartet or acoustic guitar quartet. Written in memory of my father, Herbel Hernando Potes Bejarano and dedicated to William Anderson.

Dos intenciones (Two Intentions) (2020) for clarinet in Bb, violin, viola, cello, and piano. In memory of Kenneth Diehl. World premiere by Ensamble Warmi, Andrea Pérez Mukdsi, Teatro de la Fundación Salta, Güemes 434 Salta, Argentina, 12/5/2022.

Cantos del mar (Songs of the Sea) (2003-2019) String Quartet No.2. Work in three movements dedicated to Momenta Quartet.
Duration: 12:00

Lamento (2017) for alto saxophone and harpsichord. Commissioned and dedicated to Joyce Lindorff and Marshall Taylor. Duration: 3:00

A Due II (2013- revised 2017) for tiple and guitar. Commissioned by the Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music. Dedicated to Bill Anderson and Oren Fader.

Oleajes (Waves) (2003- revised 2015) String quartet No.1. Work in three movements dedicated to Momenta Quartet and commissioned by the Independence Fellowship for the Arts. Premiered, Momenta Quartet, New Castle University, England, 7/10/08. Duration: 11:00

Changing Trains in Times Square in 30 Seconds (2014) for violin and piano. Commissioned by Miranda Cuckson. Premiere by Miranda Cuckson and Yegor Shevtsov. Las Américas en Concierto, Greenwich House Music, New York City, 2/23/2014

Tríptico (2013) for Colombian tiple and piano. Commissioned by the Anderson-Forsyth Due. World premiere at the International Festival Camerata 21 Veracruz, Mexico, 9/26/2013. Duration: 6:00

A Due I (2013) for Colombian tiple and guitar. Commissioned by The Roger Shapiro Fund and dedicated to Bill Anderson and Oren Fader. World premiere presented by Vox Novus - Composer's Voice, 5th Annual Guitar Celebration, Jan Hus Church, New York City, 6/23/2013
Duration: 7:00

Tres instrumentos para un tema obstinado (Three Instruments for an Insistent Theme) (2013) for flute/alto flute, guitar/Colombian tiple (optional) and double bass. Commissioned by Sue Ann Kahn.
Premiered by the League of Composers ISCM; Sue Ann Kahn, fl/alto fl, William Anderson, guitar/tiple and Lewis Paer, bass.
Tenri Cultural Center, New York City, 3/30/2013. Duration: 11:00

Evening Conversations (2011) for two bass flutes. Commissioned and premiered by Sue Ann Kahn and Peter Sheridan, Flute National Association. Convention 2012, Las Vegas. Duration: 8:00

Looking at the Sea (Mirando el mar) (2003) for viola and piano. Dedicated to Stephanie Griffin . Duration: 5:00

The City Visited (2003) for viola and piano. Premiered by Stephanie Griffin (viola) and Blaire McMillen (piano), The New York Wolpe Festival, the League of Composers/ISCM and the Americas Society. New York City, 4/10/03. Duration: 16:00

Y la brisa trae aroma de cadmia... (and the breeze carries a scent of cadmia…) (2002) quintet for fl., vl., vlc., piano and percussion. Commissioned and premiered by Music of Changes. Dedicated to Kenneth Diehl. Herbert Zipper Recital Hall, Los Angeles, 4/3/02
Duration: 9:00

Tres Miniaturas para las Mariposas Ausentes (Three Miniatures for the Absent Butterflies) (1998) for cl., bn. and piano. Version available for fl., bass cl. and piano. Published by the Hildegard Publishing Company. Premiered by Trío Neos, XI Foro de Música Nueva, México City, 5/24/99. Duration: 7:00

Cánticos para Cinco (Canticos for five players) (1998) for ob., hn., vl., vlc. and piano. Premiered by Parnassus 25th Anniversary. Merkin Concert Hall, New York, 11/23/98. Duration: 10:00

Cantos Escondidos (Hidden Songs) (1995) for alto sax. or Eng. hrn., vlc. and piano. Commissioned by Marshal Taylor and Charles Abramovic. Dedicated to Marshall Taylor, Ovidio Marinescu and Charles Abramovic. Rock Hall, Temple University, Philadelphia 1/28/97
Duration: 12:00

Aprisa (Swiftness) (1994 - rev. 2024) for fl., vlc. and piano. Dedicated and premiered by Temple University Faculty Trio. Cynthia Folio, fl., Jeffrey Solow, vlc and Charles Abramovic, piano. Temple University, Philadelphia, 3/4/94. Duration: 6:00

Noneto (1991) for fl, ob., cl., hn., vl., vc., piano and two percussion players. Premiered by Contemporary Players, Temple University, Philadelphia 5/2/91. Duration: 6:00

Chamber Music with Voice

Two Sufi Songs (2019) for countertenor and guitar. Texts by Kabir (Ecstatic Poems). Commissioned by guitarist, Daniel Conant

Horizontes, Tres cantos de cuna para todos (Horizons, Three Lullabies for Everybody) (2017) for soprano, Colombian tiple and guitar. Texts by Charles Ives and Augusta Ives. Premiered by Vox n Plux at the Fifth Annual Concert of LAEC at the Church of St. Luke in the Fields. 5/30/2017. Duration: 8:00

En Silencio (2013) for mezzo-soprano, guitar or Colombian tiple and guitar. Text by Herbel Hernando Potes Bejarano. Commissioned by Voix n Plux. Elizabeth Farnum, soprano, Bill Anderson and Oren Fader, guitars. Duration: 5:00
Coplas Andinas (Andean Couplets) (2008) for soprano and harp. Text by the Venezuelan writer, Manuel Felipe Rugeles and from the Cancionero Tradicional de Antioquia. Commissioned by Angelique Zuluaga. Duration: 5:00

Dulzuras (2004) for soprano and guitar. Commissioned by the Office of Academic Affairs of Hostos Community College, CUNY for the opening ceremony of the Sixth Conference of Caribbean Hispanic Women Writers. Texts by Cuban writer Dulce María Loynaz. Premiered by Thelma Ithier-Sterling, soprano and William Anderson, guitar. Hostos Community College, New York City, 4/28, 04. Duration: 6:00

Entre Arrullos y Madrigales (Between Madrigals and Lullabies) (2002) for soprano, fl. cl., vlc., piano and percussion. Texts by Colombian poet Aurelio Arturo. Commissioned by the Sala Luis Angel Arango/Banco de la República. Dedicated to Joseph Ruscitto. Premiered by Susan Narucki and The New York New Music Ensemble. Sala Luis Angel Arango, Bogotá, 9/9/02. Duration: 15:00

At 50 (1999) for contratenor and archlute. Text by Derek van der Tak. Dedicated to Matthew Greenbaum. Premiered by Mark Rimple.
Duration: 4:00

Canciones Nocturnas (Nocturnal Songs) (1993) for soprano, fl., cl. and vlc.; texts by Spanish poet Jorge Guillén. Premiered by soprano Guynne Cushing and the Network for New Music, Institute for Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, 3/17/93. Duration: 9:00

Canciones a lo Ausente (Songs of Absence) (1993) for baritone and piano; texts by Jorge Luis Borges. Dedicated to Herbel Hernando Potes Bejarano. Premiered by Steve Kalm and the League of Composers/ISCM. Merkin Concert Hall, 2/11/94. Duration: 8:00

Siete Haiku (1992) for soprano or tenor and piano; texts by Jorge L. Borges. Premiered by soprano Julieanne Klein and Music of Changes, Herbert Zipper Concert Hall, Los Angeles, 4/3/02. Duration: 8:00

Canciones a la Tierra (Songs for the Earth) (1989) for voice, cl. and piano. Texts by Alba L. Potes and Hernando Potes. Premiered by III Festival de Música Contemporánea de Colombia, Bogotá, 1993. Duration: 5:00

Vocal Music

Trinos (Trills) (2024) for two sopranos unaccompanied. Text by the Colombian poet Javier Tafur González. Work commissioned by Susan Narucki. Premiere by Kirsten Ashley Wiest and Susan Narucki. Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, University of California, San Diego March 6, 2024

El estanque (The Pond) (2022) for solo soprano. Text by Alba Potes. Dedicated to Ricardo Rozental

Dos Poemas (2022) for solo soprano. Poems by Colombian Poet, Elvira Alejandra Quintero. Comissioned by Luz Borrero.

Todavía (Still) (2011) for mixed chorus a capella (SSAATTBB) (16 voices) Text by Aurelio Arturo. (Version available for tenor, mixed choir, and 10 players). Duration: 4:00

A los Pájaros (To the Birds) (1995) for mixed chorus based on texts by Octavio Paz. Published by the Ministerio de Cultura of Colombia
Duration: 5:00

Solo Instrumental Music

Tres Frases (Three Phrases) (2023) for piano. Dedicated to Bertha Lucía Tello Olave

Entre líneas (Between Lines) (2019) for solo oboe. Commissioned by the Chilean oboist José Luis Urquieta.
World Premiere, Roerich Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 7/18/19 Duration: 7:00

Soliloquios (Soliloquy) (2012 - 2018) for solo piano. (The three pieces can be played individually, in pairs or all together in any order.)

Soliloquio I (2012) for solo piano. Commissioned and dedicated by Martha Marchena. Premiere by Bertha Lucía Tello Olave.
Concierto Homenaje 50 años de la Escuela de Música - Programa 2, Universidad del Valle Cali, Colombia. 10/26/2021 @ time code: 2:45

Soliloquio II (2018) for solo piano. Commissioned and dedicated to Bertha Lucía Tello Olave.
World Premiere by Shannon Sadler, piano. Arts in Society Conference, Zaragoza, Spain. 6/5/22

Soliloquio III (2018) for solo piano. Dedicated to Beth Levin. World Premiere by Beth Levin, piano. Virtual Concert, Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music. March 12, 2021

Silhouettes (2016) for solo violin based on ten photographs by Susana Juniu. Commissioned by Susana Juniu.

Amarillas eran sus mariposas (Then, his butterflies were yellow) (2014) for solo bass clarinet. Work written in memory of Gabriel García Marquez (1927-2014) and dedicated to Harry Sparnaay (1944-2017). World premiere by Andrea Nagy and the Ensemble Aventure during the concert in honor of the Centenary of the birth of my composition teacher, Ursula Mamlok (1923- 2016). September 29, 2023. Elisabeth-Schneider-Stiftung, Freiburg. Duration: 8:00

Rupturas (Breaches) (2012) for solo guitar. Work in three movements dedicated to William Anderson, Daniel Conant, Oren Fader and Nilko Andreas Guarín. Commissioned by Luz Borrero. Premiere of first movement at the IX Annual Encuentro NYC- Colombian Music Festival. Nilko Andreas Guarín, guitar. Le Poisson Rouge, NYC, 11/11/12
World Premiere of the complete work. Daniel Conant, Lemmens Institute, Leuven, Belgium 3/4/2021. Duration: 12:30

Entornos II (Glances II) (2010) for alto sax. Commissioned and premiered by Edwin Ricardo Aguillón Pachón. Audiovisual Room, Universidad Autónoma de México, 6/2/2011, México City. Duration: 4:00

Triste (Sadness) (2010 - 2020) for solo violin. Dedicated to Miranda Cuckson. Written in memory of Tyler Clementi (1991-2010). World Premiere, Miranda Cuckson, Bargemusic, Brooklyn, NY 9/23/2022. Duration: 10:30

Desde el Aire: Seis Instantes (From the Air: Six Instants) (2010). Commissioned by Ana Cervantes for her CD, Cantos de la Monarca/Mujeres de México. Premiered at the Festival Internacional Cervantino, Guanajuato, México, 10/18/10 Duration: 5:00

Traces/Homage to Bach (2010) for bass flute. Commissioned and premiered by Sue Ann Kahn, Mannes College of Music. New York City, 3/20/10. Duration: 6:00

El Jardín de Tomás (Tomas' garden) (2007) for solo piano. Commissioned and premiered by David Holzman
African Museum of the SMA Fathers, Tenafly, NJ, 11/6/11. Duration: 12:00

Apacible (2004) for solo viola. Commissioned and premiered by Stephanie Griffin. Mannes College of Music, New York City, 2/19/05
Video: Americas Society, Music of the Americas: Momenta Festival 2021 New York City @ time code 14:21. Duration: 7:00

Entornos II (Glances II) (2005) for solo alto sax. Commissioned and premiered by Marshall Taylor. Mannes College of Music, New York City, 2/19/05. Duration: 4:00

Piezas para Espantar los Demonios de la Noche (2005) (Pieces to Disperse the Demons of the Night) for solo piano. Commissioned and premiered by Blanca Uribe, Concert curated by Alba Potes for the Consulate General of Colombia in New York. Works for Piano by Colombian Composers, Weill Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York, 5/26/05. Duration: 16:00
Toques de Arrullos (Touches) (2001) for solo cello. Commissioned and premiered by Charles Forbes. Trinity Center for Urban Life, Philadelphia, 10/28/01. Duration: 14:00

Everyone Sings a Song of Peace at Least Once(1999) for solo percussion. Premiered by Raúl Vergara, Concierto de Primavera, Church of St. Luke & the Epiphany, Philadelphia, 4/12/99. Duration: 7:00

Tres Piezas Breves (1994-1997) Dedicated to and premiered by Charles Abramovic, Rock Hall, Philadelphia, 3/15/01. Duration: 12:00
To buy the score access this link: Tres piezas breves –para piano– | Editorial EAFIT

Ternura de las Grullas (Tenderness of Cranes) (1995) for solo fluteor solo oboe. Commissioned by María Elena Tobón. Premiere by Luis Julio Toro, Sala José Félix Ribas, Teatro Teresa Carreño, Caracas, Venezuela, 11/21/95. US Premiere by Cynthia Folio. Rock Hall, Philadelphia. 2/21/97. Duration: 6:00

Experimental Music

Suaves Gritos (2017) musique concrète based on the recording of works written for Marshall Taylor, alto saxophone, Joyce Lindorff, harpsichord and S. Jenny Potes-Curci, actress. Commissioned by Joyce Lindorff and Marshall Taylor.

Film Score

Between the Edges (2001) Documentary on the Colombian exiled artist/muralist Ana Uribe directed by Joseph M. Ruscitto

Writings

Comala (2020) Libretto in Spanish by Alba Potes based on the novel Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo. (work in progress)

Manuela (2017) Libretto in Spanish by Alba Potes for an opera in four acts based on the life of Manuela Saenz.