The summer of 2015 marks the thirteenth year of touring for Carmen Maret and Andrew Bergeron collectively known as the Folias Flute and Guitar Duo. This May 20, they set off again from their home in Grand Rapids, MI for a two month tour of the western United States. With their “daring in self written music” (American Record Guide), they showcase original classical chamber music from their CD release Viewpoints as well as their ongoing arrangements from the golden era of Argentine tango. The tour includes 30 performances in 60 days.
Their background in the tango world takes them to play live music for milongas in Champaign, Austin, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, San Diego, San Pedro, Ventura, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Boise, Reno and Lincoln. Likewise, they will perform their classical compositions in arts venues in Pasadena and Oakland, libraries in Las Vegas and Sunnyvale, two arts town bars in Taos, NM and Moab, UT and most unlikely, at a whitewater park in Idaho. Carmen comments, “I love the back and forth between playing our classical music and then playing for tango dances, it keeps up my chops as a musician but also helps the interplay between polished chamber music performing and improvisation/dance band approach to playing.”
A cornerstone of the Viewpoints Tour will be the premier of Bergeron’s ‘Border Trilogy’ in the North Cascades National Park where the couple did an artist residency in 2011, he explains “we wrote music about this park during a residency almost 4 years ago now. This piece is a real testament to the rich collaboration as both performers and composers that has taken a long time to develop.”
The tours’ namesake CD release Viewpoints follows Folias’ Tango and Snow and Waterway concept album releases which blend Folias’ ongoing love of Argentine tango with other world musics and Western classical music to create an aural travelogue of both depth and breadth.
Schedule
5/20|Cowboy Monkey|Champaign, IL
5/23|Esquina Tango|Austin, TX
5/25|The Bean|Las Cruces, NM
5/26|El Meson|Santa Fe, NM
5/27|Adobe Bar|Taos, NM
5/29|Tango Xchange|Albuquerque, NM
5/30|Eddie McStiff’s|Moab, UT
5/31|Squatters|Salt Lake City, UT
6/3|Clark County Library|Las Vegas, NV
6/3|Sahara West Library|Las Vegas, NV
6/6|Dancefor2|San Diego, CA
6/7|Tango Workshop|San Diego, CA
6/8|Tango San Pedro|San Pedro, CA
6/9|Peirano’s|Ventura, CA
6/11|The Coffee Gallery|Altadena, CA
6/12|Hopmonk|Sonoma, CA
6/14|Studio Grand|Oakland, CA
6/16|Bailonga|Eugene, OR
6/17|Drift Inn|Yachats, OR
6/20|Tango Berretin|Portland, OR
6/21|Corkscrew Bar|Portland, OR
6/23|Amber Restaurant|Seattle, OR
6/27|North Cascades Lodge|Stehekin, WA
7/2|Olive Marketplace|Walla Walla, WA
7/3|Kelly’s Whitewater Park|Cascade, ID
7/8|Willowcreek Grill|Boise, ID
7/9|Tango Boise Milonga|Boise, ID
7/12|Public Library|Sunnyvale, CA
7/13|VZ Tango|Reno, NV
7/18|Just Dance|Omaha, NE
Biography
Carmen Maret and Andrew Bergeron met at Michigan State University in 2002 while studying for their combined Master’s Degrees in music composition, performance, and ethnomusicology. Their collaborations were initially based upon playing Andrew’s original music and Carmen’s tango arrangements but they soon blended these elements together to create their first concept album Waterway which drew inspiration from an Artist Residency at Isle Royale National Park.
The nomadic duo has played on stages around the globe including in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, and Guinee, West Africa. Carmen and Andrew have self-booked and promoted tours extensively throughout North America which have included festivals in Alaska and Canada and milongas in over 25 tango communities throughout the United States.
American Record Guide calls the Folias Flute and Guitar Duo “daring in self written music.” Having worked together for over ten years, this Grand Rapids, MI based husband and wife duo of flutist Carmen Maret and guitarist Andrew Bergeron continue to break new ground as performers and composers with a list of over 40 self-published compositions.
Folias’ four critically acclaimed albums on the Blue Griffin Recording label show their versatility as musicians. They have a strong connection to South American folk, Argentine tango and to the music of Astor Piazzolla. Taking inspiration from Piazzolla, Maret and Bergeron’s original compositions are rooted in both the rigors of classical music and in the freedom of improvisational music. About Folias’ album Marufo Vega Fanfare magazine said, “Carmen Maret and Andrew Bergeron are facile players…They draw on tango rhythms and melodies sometimes; at other times they write with a scenic sensitivity…mysterious…charming…evocative.”
Carmen and Andrew also curate foliasmusic.com, the website where they publish and sell their own sheet music and CDs, host a podcast and blog. On foliasmusic.com you will also discover their not so secret identities as foodies and nature lovers.