KINGSTON, R.I. – Dec. 2, 2025 – University of Rhode Island director of orchestral studies Luis Viquez’s new album, Shades and Cycles: Music for Clarinet Alone, is now available on all major streaming platforms.
The album took more than a decade to produce, compiling work and inspiration from Viquez’s experience in Costa Rica, South Dakota and here in Rhode Island.
Shades and Cycles consists of 10 tracks for unaccompanied clarinet made in Costa Rica and the United States. Many of the pieces were written and premiered by Viquez as part of collaborations over the years. The album opens with Statuettes for Solo Bass Clarinet by fellow URI music professor Eliane Aberdam.
The majority of the pieces were written by Latin American composers as well as women and composers of color. Paying respect to Viquez’s heritage, a third of the work included was written by Costa Rican composers. The Costa Rican sound varies from playful to completely contemporary and abstract works. Being able to collaborate with composers from his home country made the album even more special, allowing him to compile a collage of influences of composers from Costa Rica and the U.S.
“It is important as artists to promote music by underrepresented composers, promote inclusion in classical music and provide opportunities to new voices,” said Viquez. “For the audience to hear how the clarinet is an instrument that has a lot of versatility in multiple genres and in multiple types of compositions, like the ones reflected in the album.”
One of the songs, “Canto y Danza de los Innúmeros Abuelos (Versión I – 2012),” is remembered fondly by Viquez. The piece was recorded the day before Viquez moved to the United States almost 15 years ago. He went to the studio of the composer, went back home, picked up his bags, said goodbye to his parents and moved to the U.S.
Part of his inspiration for the album came from his time as a faculty member at the University of South Dakota and being a part of the South Dakota Music Festival. He was able to play music by South Dakota composer Paul Lombardi, and later Lombardi helped him record the piece.
As conductor of the URI Symphony Orchestra and an assistant professor of music and director of orchestral studies, while teaching classes in the conducting curriculum, Viquez also gained experience and knowledge through his time here at URI to apply to the album.
“This is like closing a cycle that I have been doing for almost 15 years with the first track that I recorded before moving to the U.S. to the last one that I recorded last year,” said Viquez. “So it’s an important cycle for me as a clarinetist to conclude.”
This story was written by Kiera Wrage, a senior majoring in public relations at the University of Rhode Island. Kiera is interning in URI’s Department of Communications and Marketing.
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