Beyond Borders

“Beyond Borders” is a composition about my personal journey — a work that crosses geographical boundaries through my sonic and emotional references. It is about living in a new country, encountering an unfamiliar culture, and still realizing that it is possible to integrate into this new reality, full of peculiarities, by relating it to my previous life experiences. Languages, cuisines, ways of being — everything overlaps, blends, and transforms. The piece weaves together folk songs from the United States and Brazil, while also evoking a North American compositional style that shaped my listening during adolescence: minimalism. This style overlaps and alternates with the rasgueado strumming of Spanish guitars, creating a hybrid texture rich in contrast. Among these layers, the songs of imaginary birds emerge — a musical object I have been developing within my personal language, strongly influenced by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. The piece also incorporates rhythmic elements from the Río de la Plata region — where, in the triangle formed by Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, rhythms such as Argentine tango and Uruguayan candombe flow, along with the waters, into the Atlantic Ocean. These rhythms intersect with the samba styles of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, each with their own distinct features, as well as influences from cordão de ouro and maracatu. These sonorities are deeply inspired by the work of Brazilian composers and arrangers such as Letieres Leite, Maestro Branco, and Moacir Santos. Finally, the piece also integrates traces of the twelve-tone language, particularly influenced by Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Luigi Dallapiccola. “Beyond Borders” is, above all, a clear expression of freedom in musical creation — a conscious refusal to

confine music within fixed boxes of style or genre. It is about rejecting aesthetic and cultural boundaries, and celebrating the meeting of different sonic worlds in a respectful, creative, and deeply cosmopolitan way.

Gabriel DUARTE - Beyond Borders (2025) - Hub New Music Composition premiered on June 13, 2025, at the Timucua Foundation in partnership with the ICEBERG Institute, held in Orlando, Florida, from June 2 to 13, 2025.

HUB NEW MUSIC: Hub New Music is Michael Avitabile (flutes), Gleb Kanasevich (clarinets), Magnolia Rohrer (violin/viola), and Jesse Christeson (cello). Currently based in Detroit, the ensemble’s name is inspired by its founding city of Boston’s reputation as a hub of innovation.