Susan Campos—Fonseca:
La Creación sin mañana

Maestro Gutiérrez incorporated the work into OSUCR’s repertoire, and in 2024 it was programmed once again as part of the orchestra’s VIII Season Concert, titled Memory, Women, and Music, alongside works by historical female composers such as Ethel Smyth (United Kingdom, 1858–1944) and Amy Beach (USA, 1867–1944). The program also included a concerto by Camargo Guarnieri (Brazil, 1907–1993), performed by Brazilian pianist Rubia Santos, with Costa Rican guest conductor Luisana Padilla.

I decided to revise La creación sin Mañana in collaboration with the soloist, María Clara Vargas. The result was a new version of the work, premiered on November 1, 2024, at the Parish of San Antonio de Padua in the community of Curridabat, San José, Costa Rica’s capital. Regarding this new performance, María Clara wrote:

"At the beginning of 2024, Alejandro Gutiérrez, director of OSUCR, gave me the unexpected news that he would be programming La creación sin Mañana once again—a piece for harpsichord, noise machine, and orchestra, composed by Susan Campos—Fonseca. I was overjoyed to hear this because, although we had premiered the piece before, it had been during the pandemic. Moreover, knowing the composer, I was sure that this new staging would be an incredibly enriching experience for me as a performer.

Upon revisiting the piece, I set out to ‘forget’ everything from the first version and approach the score with a fresh perspective. My first focus was on the harpsichord’s sonic possibilities: fast, highly rhythmic passages alternate with slow, arpeggiated moments, where the instrument’s resonance is filled with harmonics. Dense, tightly clustered chords of three or four notes contrast with wide clusters spanning over an octave, requiring the use of the forearm and an exploration of the harpsichord’s various registers and tessituras.

The alternation of different hand and forearm positions led me to seek bodily movements that would clearly convey the energy and intensity of the piece. Finally, I had to explore the noise machines and develop a counterpoint between them and the harpsichord—an experience that was both challenging and full of surprises. All of this was in dialogue with the orchestra’s diverse instrumental textures.

As on previous occasions, one of the most satisfying aspects was having the opportunity to discuss my interpretative ideas with Susan, who was always open to my suggestions. Once we had finalized the version, we worked with Alejandro, whose attention to detail and precision were invaluable. The night of the concert, we achieved a complete immersion into the work: everything we had developed, combined with the orchestral sound and the acoustics of the Church of Curridabat, allowed us to create a new, thrilling, and powerful interpretation that both astonished and excited the audience."

With the support of Irreverence Group Music (NYC) and OSUCR, we are releasing this premiere with audiovisual production and a live recording by Cyancoco Studio (Costa Rica).

My deepest gratitude goes to Ernesto Rodríguez-Montero, director of the School of Music at the University of Costa Rica; pianist Sharon Villegas Fernández, co-soloist in this new version; conductor Ricardo Cambronero, assistant to Maestro Gutiérrez; and the entire OSUCR, whose sonic force shaped and sculpted this testament from those of us who survived the pandemic—I dare to call it a human biotechnological war—because through this strength and resilience, we pay tribute to all the victims (human and non-human) of the ongoing planetary struggle for life.

Susan Campos-Fonseca, PhD
Composer