The UMD Clarice hosts ACTnow series: Family, music, activism

The Gavilán brothers in The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center meeting students after an ACTnow conversation about family and music. (DeAnna Giles/The Black Explosion)

Music has a different meaning in everyone’s lives. It can be a way of bonding and sharing a piece of your culture.

For brothers Aldo López Gavilán and Ilmar Gavilán, their love for music brought them together amid geopolitical divides.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center hosted the Gavilán brothers Monday as part of the Arts Citizenship Talks (ACTnow) series. ACTnow provides opportunities to hear about the issues reflected in artists' works.

The Gavilán brothers were on opposite sides of the US-Cuba feud despite their shared heritage. The ACTnow conversation was about the role of music in their journey of opposition.

“Music proved to be a stronger force than all of these politics together and because we got family and music, we ended up winning that equation,” Ilmar said.

Born in Havana in the 70s, Ilmar was sent to the U.S.S.R. to study violin and never returned to Cuba, but resided in New York. From there, he helped form the Harlem Quartet to mentor young classical musicians of color. Cuba’s jazz and classical pianists mentored Aldo and began to compose, perform and teach classical and jazz.

Due to the separation, the Gavilán brothers never had a chance to collaborate musically. Their documentary, “Los Hermanos” centers around the phrase, Divided by politics. United by music.

According to Ilmar, the phrase is literal. 

“It refers to the practical matter. If we didn’t have music, then we would not be able to come together here on tour,” he said.

He added that music was a means to reunite despite the geopolitical situations in the country.

The Gavilán brothers' journey is seen through the lens of music and family. “That’s why we decided to try to have an opportunity to have conversations like that,” Assistant Director of Campus and Community Engagement Jane Hirshberg said.

She added, the conversations are “meant to give people more insight into the work of artists that are interested in activism.”

ACTnow is an invitation for people to start taking action now. “It's all about creating more ways to access the creative process and to access people who are trying to make change, through the creative work that they're doing,” Hirshberg said.

“The meaning of music is literally our existence because we were born with music. We belong to music,” Aldo said.

The documentary sheds light on Cuban perspectives. According to the film, Cubans and Americans crossing the border is not an easy task. But the Gavilán brothers were able to cross paths and unite musically.

“The documentary is just our life but it’s like a symbol to a lot of divided families and a symbol of hope in music and humans in general,” Ilmar said.

Students who attended the ACTnow conversation were able to see the trailer of “Los Hermanos.” The documentary will continue to host screenings at different locations and broadcast on PBS this fall.

“Music is the way I live and the way I think. Everything is related to music and communications. All my experience in life has been through music,” Aldo said.