8:00pm on Saturday, July 29th 2023
Integrating traditional sounds of Mesoamerica and South Asia, Andrea Cortez and Mario Garza incorporate wordly improvisations with elements of raag (melodic frameworks) and taal (rhythmic cycles). Combining harp, tanpura, and tabla, the representative instruments of the West and East, the duo expound on connecting to natural elements through indigenous praxis and padhant (rhythmic syllabification). These improvisations are catalysts in evocations for healing and hope.
Andrea Cortez, MM, MT-BC, is a board certified music therapist and sound artist. Her diverse work is at the intersection of performance art, sound therapy, and sound meditation. Deeply inspired by nature, Andrea explores the relationship between music, the natural world, and plants. Her performances and recordings with harp, ambient effects, and plant generated sounds are designed to create restorative listening experiences that move the listener into relaxed states of consciousness. The therapeutic tones of her work focus on sound’s influence on physiological processes of the human body, states of attention, and perception. Andrea is a harpist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and sound meditation teacher. She is owner of Mind Body Music Center, a sound therapy studio, in Austin, TX
Mario Garza studies theology at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and performs percussion with the Nizami Qawwali Party. He studies classical Hindustani khayal with tabla and the Bengali mridanga under the tutelage of Ustad Ghulam Farid Nizami of the Senia gharana. Illustrating live rhythm, Mario also dances Mexican Jarocho and Mexika danza. Outside of music, Mario’s work focuses on current events in agriculture and interfaith initiatives.