Tran(slate)
Von Marius Volz - critic for the newspaper Darmstädter Echo.
From his article - Über alle Hindernisse hinweg (July 11th/2008)

"Im Abendkonzert am Donerstag in der Orangerie verschmilzt in Laras zweitem Streichquartett "Tran(slate)" die Elektronik auf raffinierte Weise mit dem Instrumentalensemble. Lara hat kurze akustische Schnipsel, bestehend aus wenigen gesummten Tönen, digital verarbeitet, um musikalische Informationen zu erhalten. Diese transformiert er zu den Motiven des Quartettsatzes. Die Klänge wandern, ausgehend vom Streichquartett auf der Bühne, in fließenden Prozessen mit den elektronischen Einspielungen durch den Raum. Hier wird auf schlüssige Weise Neues geschaffen, das mit alten Traditionen des Genres bricht."

English translation:

"In the evening concert on Thursday, in the Orangerie, the electronics and the instrumental ensemble coalesced in a refined manner. Lara had short acoustic snippets comprising of a few hummed tones, which were digitally processed for the computer to store. These transformed the motives and phrases from the string quartet. The sounds wandered, outwards from the string quartet on the stage, in real-time processes with the electronic sounding in different places throughout the room. Here new invention and old tradition collapsed convincingly."

Tran(slate)
Leonardo Martinelli - composer and critic for Revista Concerto, Brazil.
From his article - Gente Nova, Música Nova.

"Poucas semanas atrás foi a vez de Felipe Lara, agraciado com Prêmio Staubach, que além de alguns milhares de euros, lhe rendeu também a encomenda de uma nova obra a ser estreada pelo conceituado Arditti String Quartet no mítico festival de verão de Darmstadt, na Alemanha. Prêmios como estes são apenas a ponta de um iceberg, não só na carreira destes compositores, mas de toda uma geração."

Para todo o artigo clique aqui.

English translation:

"A few weeks ago was Felipe Lara's turn, granted the Staubach Prize, which apart from the award, provided him with a new commission, which (as a finalist) was premiered by the respected Arditti Quartet in the legendary summer festival of Darmstadt, Germany. Prizes like these are only the tip of the iceberg, not only in these composers careers, but for an entire generation."

For the entire article click here.

Corde Vocale
Irvine Arditti - legendary violinist founder of the Arditti Quartet

"I was extremely impressed with this work and immediately began thinking where we could perform the work again. We will play it in Metz in France in July and also in Brazil in September. I think Felipe is one of the most interesting young composers I have come across in the last years and I have no hesitation in recommending him to any Festival"

Corde Vocale
Arditti Quartet - Eisner and Lubin Auditorium - New York City
Steve Smith - music critic from TIME OUT New York

Corde Vocale
Arditti Quartet - 42nd Festival de Musica Nova - SESC Vila Mariana - São Paulo/Brazil
Arthur Nestrovski - music and literary critic for Folha de São Paulo

"Tanto melhor que o programa de anteontem, fechando a programação do Festival Música Nova, trazia outras obras bem recentes, incluindo a música de dois brasileiros, Felipe Lara(1979) e Alexandre Lunsqui (1969). "Corde Vocale", do sorocabano Felipe Lara, foi composto no ano retrasado. As "cordas vocais" do título são metáforas para as vocalizantes cordas do quarteto, que se comunicam irregular e contrapuntisticamente, numa nebulosa sonora. Doutorando em composição na Universidade de Nova York, sob orientação de Mario Davidovsky, Louis Karchin e Tristan Murail (Columbia), Lara escreve num idioma que conversa com a eletroacústica e a música espectral, mas aponta para outra direção."

English translation:

"So much so that the program, wrapping up the festival, also brought brand new works, including two Brazilians, Felipe Lara(1979) e Alexandre Lunsqui (1969). Lara's "Corde Vocale" was composed two years ago. The "vocal chords" from the title refers to metaphors of vocalizing strings from the quartet, which communicate irregularly and contrapuntaly in a sonic cloud. Currently a PhD candidate at New York University under the supervision of Mario Davidovsky, Louis Karchin, and Tristan Murail (Columbia), Lara writes in an idiom which converses with electroacoustic and spectral music, but points it at a rather different direction."

Onda
Berkshire Symphony - cond. Ronald Feldman - Williams College - Chapin Hall
The Berkshire Review for the Arts

"Onda is a classic tone poem. Its title means “wave” in several Romance languages, and it does indeed bring Debussy’s La Mer to mind at times, but in a way refreshingly free from the obvious clichés a composer might fall prey to. Mr. Lara introduces his undular motif with sharp attacks and a brilliant sound from a very large orchestra. Although scene-painting and atmosphere were central, Onda showed a strong sense of form in equal measure. Colorful orchestration was central, here enriched by a more sophisticated musical imagination, more daring sonorities, and a vivid exoticism. Again Mr. Feldman’s reading got right to the core of the music and brought it to life as it should be: what was harsh was harsh, what was strange was strange, and delicate passages were most sensitively played."

Serenata
International Contemporary Ensemble - Merkin Concert Hall - New York City
by Steve Smith - music critic from TIME OUT New York

"At the other end of the spectrum, Felipe Lara's Serenata, proved that complexity is far from played out. Based on the half-dozen or so pieces I've heard so far, Lara is a composer concerned with tonal clashes and rhythmic abrasion; even so, I've yet to hear a piece of his that didn't sound utterly natural, even inevitable. Lara has a unique gift for creating difficult music that falls easy on the ear. His Serenata -- scored for flute, bass clarinet, French horn, acoustic guitar, harp, piano, double bass and percussion -- ebbed and flowed like a moody dream interrupted by fits and starts. Lara's masterful combinations of tone and timbre frequently suggested voices and instruments that simply weren't present on the stage."
http://nightafternight.blogs.com/night_after_night/2006/04/student_studies.html

Notturno
Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira - Sala Cecília Meireles - Rio de Janeiro/Brazil
by Tom Moore

Prisma
Duo Diorama - Minghuan Xu and Winston Choi - Festival de Música Nova - São Paulo and Santos/Brazil
by Gilberto Mendes - composer, creator of Festival de Música Nova, and key figure of Brazilian Manifesto Musica Nova of 1963 - Jornal "A Tribuna" - Santos/Brazil

"Do brasileiro Felipe Lara, estudando no momento em universidade norte-americana, também outra novidade, outra jóia musical: Prisma. O curioso é que Felipe Lara vem da música popular, é fenomenal o salto que ele deu para a música da mais alta cultura, que é a música de vanguarda, de invenção."

English translation:

"From Felipe Lara, currently studying in a North-American University, another musical jewel: Prisma. It's curious that Felipe Lara comes from popular music, and it's phenomenal the "jump" that he gave into the music of highest culture, that is avant-garde music, music of invention."