Camarada Celebrates the Tango at this Month’s Festival

Camarada Tango Quartet Events to Feature New Compositions, Dance Performances, History Talks

Camarada Quartet: Andrés Martin, Dana Burnett, Beth Ross-Buckley, David Buckley. Gary Payne Photography.

Each year, San Diego’s acclaimed chamber group Camarada temporarily rebrands itself. The ensemble transforms into the Camarada Tango Quartet, espousing the infectious, sensual genre that blossomed during the late 19th Century in South America’s Rio de la Plata region, straddling Argentina and Uruguay. The quartet’s tradition continues this month with the International Art of Tango Festival II, featuring four presentations starting Feb. 24 and continuing that week in various venues.

Tango Intimo II is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at UC San Diego Park & Market, 1100 Market St., downtown San Diego.

What Is Tango,? featuring a lecture and dance demonstration, February 26, 7pm at the Mingei Museum, Balboa Park.

The Art of Tango—Tijuana is set for 7pm on February 27, Centro Cultural Tijuana.

The Art of Tango—La Jolla, 7pm on February 28 at the Conrad Presbys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., downtown La Jolla.

More detailed information on tickets and the format of each show can obtained at camarada.org.

Flute virtuoso Beth Ross-Buckley founded Camarada along with her husband, violinist David Buckley, three decades ago. After relocating to San Diego from the Bay Area, the couple observed there was a dearth of chamber music in this region. Soon, Ross-Buckley became entranced by the pieces of legendary tango composer, arranger, and bandoneon maestro Astor Piazzolla.

“The love for tango began with Astor Piazzola’s music,” said the College Area resident. “Once I found Piazzolla, I wanted to gather everything he wrote.” Husband David, the violinist, embraced the music as well.

“He’s a natural,” she said. “We both love and have a passion for playing tango music. We’ve played a tango concert every year for about 27 years.”

Double bassist Andres Martin. Ross-Buckley Photography.

In addition to the Buckleys, the tango quartet consists of Camarada regular, pianist Dana Burnett and double bassist Andrés Martin, joined by bandoneon player Pablo Jaurena as well as lecturer and double bassist Ignacio Varchausky.

“We are the Tango Quartet, but we do bring this bandoneon player in just for this [festival] to play with us,” Ross-Buckley said. “We do play with the typical tango instrument—the bandoneon. When we’ve gone to Argentina the last two years, we’ve recorded with [Jaurena].”

Invented in Germany in the 1840s for religious music, the bandoneon is similar to an accordion in sound and design, while offering rich sonorous tones akin to a church organ. European immigrants brought the instrument to Argentina later in the century.

The festival’s dance performances will feature Carolina Jaurena and Anton Domansky.

Tango dancers Anton Domansky & Carolina Jaurena.

“Of course, everybody loves them,” Ross Buckley said. “At the Conrad concert we will have our tango dancers. They come from New York and will be lecturing and demonstrating diffferent dance moves.”

In its tango five-piece configuration, Camarada is led by Martin, a Buenos Aires native whom Ross Buckley describes as the “quote” bandleader.

“We’re so lucky,” she said. “Andrés lives in Tijuana and we’re very fortunate that he lives in our community and is able to be part of this group. He arranges our music and writes new commissions each year. Each year, we commission a new piece.

“So, in the final performance at the Conrad, we will be unveiling his latest work called Lifemakers. That’s what we do each year—unveil a new work so we have a world premiere.”

Also on the agenda is a piece by Jaurena for flute and bandoneon as well as compositions by other original tango masters, including Anibal Troilo and Osvaldo Pugliesi. Two years ago, Martin composed Brutal, which the ensemble unveiled at that festival. It is the title piece of a CD recorded by the quartet in September 2024 in Buenos Aires.

Bandonianist Pablo Jaurena. Ross-Buckley Photography.

The piece highlights what Ross-Buckley describes as a compelling feature of modern tango, a symbiosis of propulsive rhythms and provocative melodies. “Brutal has a beautiful melody, which I get to play,” she said. “Andrés often talks about those two things (characterizing tango), very aggressive and driving, and a beautiful melody on top of that. It often has two ideas going on at the same time, pulling each different way…I think it really taps into a raw emotion. It really reaches people. It affects you emotionally. The melodies are transcendent and take you away.”

To many, especially generations with roots in the mid-20th century, tango conjures memories of a highly syncopated South American musical style, accompanied by vigorous, often erotic movements of dance partners, as exemplified by Gerardo Matos Rodrigues’ anthem, La Cumparcita.

Historically, the roots of the music parallel jazz and Caribbean forms in that they evolved from a synthesis of the European and African diasporas. As heard in the music of Camarada and company, today’s tango has come a long way from its early paradigm.

“As Andrés says, tango is as wide of a language as jazz,” Ross-Buckley said. “It’s a huge language. It isn’t just La Cumparcita.”

Over the years, Ross-Buckley said, Camarada has been described as an international ambassador of the art form. “There’s just no end to learning about it and the different composers and where it’s going. We love being part of that. We’re part of the evolution of tango.