Guitarist Candice Mowbray
Guitarist • Educator • Scholar
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Explorations in Listening
Listening Explorations are created for persons who enjoy listening to guitar music, learning about music history, rediscovering familiar pieces, and having new listening experiences. Some of the accompanying activities are directed toward students and amateur players while others may be more scholarly. Please feel free to use as a supplement to your own studies or teaching and check back periodically for new explorations.
Just a note: These activities have been created with adult music enthusiasts in mind, so please monitor young students with content and links.
Berta Rojas and La Huella de las Cuerdas (The Journey of Strings)
From the Baroque guitar in Italy to the Puerto Rican cuatro and Chilean guitarron, guitarist Berta Rojas's most recent project La Huella de las Cuerdas (The Journey of Strings) honors the history and music of plucked string instruments from throughout Latin America. The significant musicological research is presented through beautiful music, collaborations, interviews, recordings, a physical album and text. Pressed to vinyl, the album is packaged with a gorgeous book full of photographs in which the reader is invited to scan images with their phone for an augmented reality experience during which they can interact with featured instruments.
A documentary has been produced to share this music and research with the world, and it can be viewed at the posted link above. Berta Rojas also has a playlist of videos featuring individual tracks from the album allowing us to explore and enjoy the variety of instruments and wonderful music that combine for this journey. Rojas states, "The Journey of Strings is more than an album to me: it is a musical journey that gave me the honor of connecting with extremely talented Latin American artists who brought immeasurable value to this project."
I encourage you to explore and enjoy this wonderful project and I wish Berta and her entire team the best of luck to be again recognized by the GRAMMY's for this incredible project.
Activities
You can download a word search inspired by The Journey of Strings here:
Explore Berta Rojas' playlist of music from The Journey of Strings at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_klWH68dyAKHY_65xntDTo6RBk6l9jnGTI
Discussion Questions
Coming soon...
About Berta Rojas
(From bertarojas.com)
Hailed as a “guitarist extraordinaire” by the Washington Post, Berta Rojas is a global ambassador for the classical guitar, seeking to stretch boundaries and bridge cultural divides. In The Journey of the Strings, a soul-touching tale of musical transformation presented across multiple formats—vinyl, streaming, videos, app and augmented reality book—Berta continues that mission.
She earned a Latin Grammy in 2022 for her album Legado, and one of the pieces she performed on the recording—Anido's Portrait—won its composer Sergio Assad the award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
Berta has received three other Latin Grammy nominations as well: Best Tango Album for History of Tango (2015), recorded with the Camerata Bariloche; Best Classical Album for Salsa Roja (2014); and Best Instrumental Album for Día y Medio (A Day and a Half), a collaboration with Paquito D’Rivera (2012). In 2025, she was appointed to the Latin Recording Academy's prestigious Board of Directors.
Berta's electrifying technique, warmth and musical artistry have won audiences' hearts worldwide, including at such major venues as the 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center's Fredrick P. Rose Hall of Jazz in New York; the South Bank Centre and Shakespeare's Globe as a guest of the grand master John Williams in London; the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; and Flagey Studio 4 in Brussels, performing with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra for Belgian National Television.
In 2011, Berta, along with guest artist Paquito D’Rivera, initiated the four-year tour “In the Footsteps of Mangoré”, following the travels of Paraguay's Agustín Barrios, pioneer of the classical guitar in the Americas. The duo performed in 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, concluding the journey at the National Theater of San Salvador, the final resting place of the celebrated composer.
But wherever she performs, Berta transports listeners, taking them on a colorful voyage of sound, often embracing new works by composers in diverse genres.
In addition to continually expanding her own artistic career with frequent international concert tours and master classes, Berta Rojas is passionately committed to encouraging and furthering the study and playing of the classical guitar. A particular focus is on promoting the music of her country, Paraguay, as well as Latin American music more widely. Providing ongoing support for the careers of young upcoming guitarists is an area dear to her heart, with projects in different formats such as the Barrios WorldWideWeb Competition, the Ensemble Pu Rory (in the Guaraní language, Festive Sounds), Instrumentoteca and Jeporeka, among others.
After initial studies in Paraguay under masters Felipe Sosa and Violeta de Mestral, Berta continued her musical education in Uruguay as a student of Abel Carlevaro, Eduardo Fernández and Mario Payseé. She went on to get a master's in music at the Peabody Institute under Manuel Barrueco, Ray Chester, and Julian Gray. In 2017, Berta joined the faculty of Berklee College of Music as an Associate Professor, sharing her knowledge and love of music with a select group of young guitarists from various parts of the world.
She was named a Fellow of the Americas of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for her artistic excellence, and honored by her country with the title, Illustrious Ambassador of Musical Arts, granted by the Senate. In 2015, the Chamber of Deputies awarded her the National Order of Merit of the Comuneros, and the Cabildo of the capital, Asunción, the title of Master of the Arts. The Autonomous University of Encarnación granted her an Honorary Doctorate in 2016 as did the Universidad Americana. The Foreign Ministry of Paraguay gave her the National Order of Merit Don José Falcón in 2017 in acknowledgement for her outstanding contribution to culture. The Carlos Colombino Award bestowed by the National Secretariat of Culture followed suit. In 2019, the National University of Asunción also granted her an Honorary Doctorate. In 2022, Berta received the Golden Guitar Award: A Life Dedicated to the Guitar, bestowed by the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Milan. More recently in 2023, she was awarded the National Order of Merit in the Grade of “Grand Cross,” the highest degree of recognition granted by Paraguay.