This piece is based on the river of the same name which is located in central Colombia. It is nicknamed “liquid rainbow” or the “River of Five Colors” due to its very vibrant colorful nature. Red, yellow, blue, green, and orange colors appear in the river due to the sand and other plant life such as the macarenia clavigera. Another notable element about the river is that it is surrounded by Los Llanos, which is an area of open grassland connecting Colombia and Venezuela and home to Llanero music which is a subgenre of Joropo music, most popular in Venezuela and Eastern Colombia - also what I grew up listening to with my family! This music usually features harp, maracas, and a small guitar called a cuatro.

Compositionally, I wanted to capture the ethereal and magical elements of the river and decided to use flute as the main voice. The piece also includes fixed electronics which is made up entirely of recorded sounds from the flute, a tambora (commonly used in traditional Cumbia music), and a harp. The material for the live flute is meant to be played in an improvisatory way in order to embody the free-flowing nature of the river and the nature that surrounds it.

DURATION: 6:30 Minutes