THE ZARABANDA VARIATIONS Album Featuring Edgar Garcia Out Now

The Zarabanda Variations (Release Date: 08.07.26) is a uniquely combined chapbook and musical digital album that explores the historical and present syncretism of Baroque music in 12 original songs, dances, and poems. A group of musicians convened by violinist/composer Keir GoGwilt, and in collaboration with acclaimed poet Edgar Garcia, work at the intersection of free improvisation, microtonal jazz and contemporary classical to bend the historical rhythms, rhymes and resonances of the Baroque. These artists traverse the colonial histories of the zarabanda dance in this unique multimedia collage of contemporary folkloric and improvised traditions, personal reflections, and new compositions.

The zarabanda was a fast, rhythmic, and highly sensual dance with origin stories in pre-Columbian, Arab, and African traditions, which via the Caribbean became wildly popular in the streets of Spain. It was considered so provocative that it was temporarily banned.
By the Baroque period, it evolved into the sarabande-a slower, elegant, and stately dance popular in classical suites.

TRACK LIST:

1. 'Monday ~ Friday, January 11' by Edgar Garcia & Zarabanda Variations
2. 'Baroque Concerto' by Keir GoGwilt
3. 'Ortiz Sobre la Folia' by Keir GoGwilt, feat. Wilfrido Terrazas
4. 'Saturday ~ Wednesday, November 28' by Edgar Garcia & Zarabanda Variations
5. 'Otra Llorona' by Vicente Atria
6. 'Humiliation of the Victors' by Keir GoGwilt, feat. Kyle Motl & Wilfrido Terrazas
7. 'Saturday ~ Wednesday, October 17' by Edgar Garcia & Zarabanda Variations
8. 'Matachín' by Keir GoGwilt, feat. Alec Goldfarb & Wilfrido Terrazas
9. 'Monday ~ Friday, November 23' by Edgar Garcia & Zarabanda Variations
10. 'Plegaria' by Wilfrido Terrazas, feat. Mariana Flores Bucio
11. 'Wednesday ~ Sunday, December 30' by Edgar Garcia & Zarabanda Variations
12. 'Tonada Americana' by Vicente Atria

ALBUM CREDITS:

Performed by the Zarabanda Variations: Mariana Flores Bucio (voice), Wilfrido Terrazas (flutes, whistles, hand percussion), Jonny Allen (percussion), Miranda Cuckson (violin), Carrie Frey (viola), Keir GoGwilt (violin and hardanger d'amore), Alec Goldfarb (guitars), Kyle Motl (contrabass), and John Popham (cello); and Edgar Garcia (recitations)
Conceived by Keir GoGwilt
Poetry by Edgar Garcia
Composed by Keir GoGwilt, Vicente Atria, and Wilfrido Terrazas
Sessions produced by Christopher Otto
Edited by Keir GoGwilt and Charles Mueller
Mixed by Charles Mueller and Keir GoGwilt
Commissioned and produced by the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC) with additional support from YellowBarn Music Festival, YoungARTS, Clark Art Institute, Frequency Festival, the Peabody Essex Museum, National Sawdust and Lincoln Center
Recorded at Tiny Panther by Charles Mueller, July 2025
Label: Carrier Records
Catalog: 097
Release: August 7, 2026
Available: Digital release only