Echoes Festival: Tangos insólitos: Works from the International Piano Tango Collection

The Instituto Cervantes in Manchester is collaborating with The Iberian and Latin American Music Society for Echoes Festival, presenting a concert by the renowned Argentine pianist Haydée Schvartz: Tangos insólitos.

American pianist Yvar Mikhashoff (1945-1993), known primarily for his performances of contemporary music, was also a professional ballroom dancer with a penchant for the tango. His final achievement was the creation of the ‘International Piano Tango Collection’, for which he commissioned three-minute tangos from 126 composers, including illustrious names such as John Cage, Lukas Foss, Conlon Nancarrow, J. Peer Norgaard, Michael Finissy, Karlheim Stockhausen and Milton Babbit. In his will, Mikhashoff bequeathed the collection to his disciple, the pre-eminent Argentine pianist, Haydée Schvartz, who added to his legacy, bringing the tango back to its birthplace by commissioning further tangos from leading Argentinian classical composers (since, curiously, the original collection did not include any Argentine composers.) The resulting works from both collections offer a kaleidoscope of perspectives on the tango from a variety of generations and modern aesthetics.

Haydée Schvartz is a renowned Argentine pianist who has been performing since the age of four and recording since the 1990s, mixing new music, classical and chamber music repertoires. She studied Piano in Buffalo with Yvar Mikhashoff on a Fulbright Scholarship for her Master's, having also studied in London with María Curcio.

As well as performing extensively across South America's concert halls and festivals, she has performed internationally, including Edinburgh International Festival, North American New Music Festival (USA), World Music Days (Canada), Popayan Festival (Colombia) and at the International Forum of New Music (Mexico).

Besides her solo performances, she has appeared as a soloist with Argentinian and international orchestras and has worked with composers from all over the world, premiering many works, often written especially for her.

Her recording career includes international labels such as Tempus Clásico (Mexico), Los Años Luz (Argentina) and Mode Records (USA), and her most recent album, Claude Debussy’s Preludes for Piano Books 1 and 2, won the Gardel Award for Best Classical Music Album in 2021.