To my Father the great wizard who has taught me the meaning of knowledge and the passion for learning and teaching.

Performed by:
Juan Mansilla, baritone
Krizstina Kover, piano

Aprendiz de mago (2007. rev. 2011) - for Voice and Piano

Luz del alba (2006, rev. 2014) - Juan mansilla

"Soledad" (Solitude) is a song cycle that explores the psychological strugle of a perceived loneliness even when surrouded by people. This state of mind is portrayed through different techniques and theatrical aspects in the songs. The singer plays the role of the lonely individual while the players play the role of the surrounding society. The poem was written by the composer and has been divided in three  parts for the song cycle.

SOLEDAD

I.	Vacío

El silencio de la habitación espera
Que me siente de nuevo a sus pies
Con la frente en la almohada esperando
Un mañana que tal vez no pueda ser

Con el frío de la calma se acerca
La amargura de la cruda realidad
No hay nadie ni lejos ni cerca
No hay nada para poderme aferrar

II.	Angustia

Soledad, Ya no eres libertad
Ahora eres una cárcel
De la que quiero escapar
Tus cadenas me sostienen
Yo ya me quiero marchar
Ya soy preso de tu triste realidad

III.	Resignación

Miro al cielo, una luna me contempla
Las estrellas me miran solo aquí
Y el viento del invierno me sofoca
Y la tierra esta húmeda hasta el fin

La tristeza me embarca al abandono
De la luz que ahora es la oscuridad
Tan profunda que no veo ni mis ansias
De querer volver a caminar

SOLITUDE

I.	Emptiness

The silence of the room awaits
For me to sit at her feet
With its forehead on the pillow, waiting
For a future that perhaps can never be

With the cold of calmness, it comes near,
The bitterness of the cruel reality
There is nobody close or far
There is nothing to hold on to

II.	Anguish

Solitude, you are not freeing anymore
Now you are a prison
That I want to escape from.
Your chains hold me
I want to leave now
I am a prisoner of your sad reality

III.	Resignation

I look to the sky, the moon looks at me
The stars look at me, alone
And the winter wind suffocates me
And the soil is wet all over.

Sadness leads me to abandon
The light that now is the darkness
So profound I can’t see my desire
To walk again.

Performed by:
Candice Shaughnessy, mezzo soprano - USA
Ashley Rewolinski, violin - USA
Simone Libralon, viola - Italy
Felipe Morales - Torres, conductor - USA

Performed at the Miami Summer Music Festival on July 12, 2015

Soledad

A New Version of Astor Piazzolla's Libertango

Libertango - A. Piazzolla - arr. Juan Mansilla

Juan Mansilla, Classical trained Singer, has developed his unique style from the diversity of genres that have influenced him.

He has been part of some of the most important choirs in Colombia as Coro de la Opera, Sociedad Coral Santa Cecilia and the Zarzuela Company of the Jaime Manzur Foundation as singer and on stage performer, experiences that shaped his versatility and style on his "story telling"music.

He has been trained as arranger getting the tools for his own compositions and arrangements of not only popular music, but also versions for voice and piano of diverse genres for recital format and choral settings.

He is now continuing his music studies at Florida Atlantic University, from where he graduated Cum Laude as a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance, and now works on his Master of Arts also in Vocal Performance and Compositionunder the guidance of Dr. Patricia Fleitas, Director of the vocal and coral studies (Choral and vocal Coach), Mr. Mark Aliapuolios (Voice Teacher), and Dr. Stuart Glazer (Composition Teacher) at FAU.

His skills are not only about singing and composing. He also plays his own guitar and bass guitar arrangements, some of the keyboard parts, and one between other drumset bases. His continuous search and research about developing new tools with low resources makes Juan a technology dependant musician using MIDI for most of his orchestral scores.

Now, sit back, relax and welcome to Juan Mansilla &amp; The scandicus Project.

Soledad

J.F. Mansilla

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