UMass Amherst’s Felipe Salles to Present ‘The New Immigrant Experience: The Creation of a Multi-Media Jazz Work’ Sept. 28 at Mount Ida Campus

NEWTON, Mass. – Felipe Salles, professor of jazz studies, composition and saxophone at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will present “The New Immigrant Experience: The Creation of a Multi-Media Jazz Work,” a talk for community members, Wednesday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m. at the Mount Ida Campus Center at 100 Carlson Avenue in Newton, Massachusetts. The event, part of the UMass Amherst Mount Ida Campus Faculty Speaker Series, is free and open to the public.

Image

Salles’ lecture will focus on the creative process behind “The New Immigrant Experience,” a concert-length multimedia work that highlights the plight of undocumented immigrants protected by DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), also known as the “Dreamers.”

Salles will discuss conducting the video interviews, identifying and creating the musical themes, transcribing the speech patterns of the Dreamers, and designing the overall concepts for the video and live music aspects of the piece. Musical examples and their connection with the video excerpts will be analyzed and discussed during the talk.

Salles is a native of São Paulo, Brazil. An active musician in the U.S. since 1995, he has toured extensively in Europe, North and South America, India and Australia, as a sideman and as a leader of his own group. Salles has released eight critically acclaimed recordings as a leader. The New Immigrant Experience was released as a CD/DVD set, in March 2020, to critical acclaim, including a 4.5-star review from DownBeat Magazine, making the magazine’s list of best albums of 2020.

Registration for the event can be completed via Eventbrite or by calling 617-243-1119.