Western classical music, traditionally known for scores that go back as far as 1000 AD, is a genre that is still being written today. Modern composers continue to develop new ways to present a style that is centuries old. Symphony orchestras are starting to make room for new instruments in their ensembles.

For one North American composer, multi-cultural fusion within the classical world has become a passionate mission to create mestiza (mixed-race) music. Grammy-winning Peruvian-American composer Gabriela Lena Frank recently brought her unique music-making process to the University of Michigan for an experiment: After years of planning, musicians with roots in Finland, Korea, China and the United States, join three talented Ecuadorian panpipe players in Ann Arbor, to premiere a new rendition of Mestiza Music.

The film is produced by WFYI-Indianapolis with support from the U-M Office of Research, the School of Music, Theater and Dance, and the Residential College, and filmed during a visiting artist residency at U-M in the fall of 2014.

The screening will be accompanied by a question and answer session with the composer Gabriela Lena Frank, filmmaker Aric Hartvig and performers Andrew Jennings (violin) and Katri Ervamaa (cello). A reception to follow.

Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8jldNI5NmA