Gio here. I wanted to write a special trip that Beo took this year. One of my favorite things about being a musician is getting to travel to interesting places to perform, oftentimes places that I would not have the opportunity to visit in any other context. In September, Beo got to travel to and perform in Ibagué, Colombia. We had a wonderful experience performing, giving masterclasses, and eating delicious, local food.

For the 2022 edition of the Ibagué Festival, they were looking for a quartet who was equally comfortable performing both new and standard repertoire, and Beo perfectly fits that criteria. We performed two programs while at the festival: the first on September 16th at Universidad del Tolima.

The second performance was on September 17th at the Conservatorio del Tolima. Highlights of the repertoire we chose for the programs show Beo’s diverse 2022-23 programming:

· Sean Neukom (Beo violist) – “People”

· Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110

· Beethoven – Op. 18, No. 1 in F major

· Gabriela Ortiz – Mictlán from Altar de Muertos

The audiences in Ibagué were enthusiastic and welcoming, and they particularly connected with the pieces by Shostakovich and Ortiz. The dark and intense emotions of the Shostakovich had a powerful effect on the audience, and the wild and rhythmically intense Mictlán was a huge crowd pleaser.

In addition to performing, we also taught masterclasses to some of the promising students at the Conservatorio del Tolima.