Music of the Americas: Prat and Uribe, Torres, Spielman, Castañeda

Tuesday, January 19, 10 a.m.

Celebrated Latin Grammy Award winning percussionist, composer, and arranger, Samuel Torres was born in Bogotá. Torres’s earliest exposure to music came at home, thanks to an extended family of musicians and access to a wealth of Colombian music genres, from the infectious rhythms of the cumbia and vallenato to styles which reflect a range of African, Indigenous, and European influences. By the age of 12, Torres was performing jazz, pop, and salsa with various ensembles in Bogotá. A classically trained percussionist, he earned a degree in music composition from Universidad Javeriana. Before departing for the United States in 1999, Torres had become an established figure in Colombia’s music scene, backing leading performers while serving as an arranger and music director for his telenovelas and films.

Torres sent us a magical video of his own "The Light Remains," an evocative kalimba solo.

Tuesday, January 19, 6 p.m.

Join us for a virtual opening panel with Orellana, exhibition co-curators Diana Flatto and Sebastián Zubieta, and Artistic Director of MALBA in Buenos Aires Gabriela Rangel, moderated by Director and Chief Curator of Visual Arts at Americas Society Aimé Iglesias Lukin.

Joaquín Orellana: The Spine of Music, is the first exhibition of the Guatemalan composer's works in the United States. It features several of his útiles sonoros (sound tools) alongside the work of contemporary artists Carlos Amorales, María Adela Díaz, Akira Ikezoe, and Alberto Rodríguez Collía. Each of these artists has spent time with Orellana and created work related to his practice. 

Read more about the exhibition and book a time to visit in person.

Wednesday, January 20, 10 a.m.

Singer, songwriter, accordionist, and big band leader Gregorio Uribe was born in Bogotá, and is currently based in New York City. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Uribe has made a name for himself in the Latin music scene of both New York City and Boston. Uribe released Cumbia Universal (Zoho Music) featuring Latin music icon Rubén Blades in October 2015. The album hit the Billboard charts and received widespread critical acclaim with performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in Boston, and Teatro Colón in Bogotá. Uribe has been a guest artist with Carlos Vives on several occasions, most recently at Madison Square Garden in New York. He was also named by the government of Colombia as one of the 100 Most Successful Colombians Abroad. He has been an artist-in-residence at Dartmouth College and a commissioned composer for Arturo O’Farrill and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Argentine jazz vocalist, actress, and songwriter Solange Prat has performed and toured internationally with renowned artists such as Joan Baez, Eva Ayllon, Leon Gieco, and Leo Genovese. As one of the main Latin voices in the New York scene, Prat became the front woman of the 11-piece Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra, which released its eponymous debut album in 2011, and their second in 2017, Dialectica. In 2017, Prat released the single "Doce Años," featuring the all-female mariachi and Latin Grammy winners Flor de Toloache. She is currently launching her EP Loop, which features several artists including Argentine songwriter Kevin Johansen, Latin Grammy winner and Venezuelan cuatro player Jorge Glem, and Argentine bass player Andrés Rotmistrovsky.

They sent us their bolero "Nuestro andar from the mountains near Bogotá, where they have been sheltering during the pandemic.

Thursday, January 21, 6 p.m.

Since moving to the United States in 1994, Colombian-born harp virtuoso Edmar Castañeda has created a unique role for the harp in jazz during his wide-ranging career. Castañeda has collaborated with guitarist John Scofield, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, bassists Marcus Miller and John Patitucci, bandolinist Hamilton de Holanda, Brazilian pop and jazz great Ivan Lins, and Castañeda’s mentor, Cuban saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera. He has also shared stages with iconic artists including Sting, Ricki Lee Jones, The Yellowjackets, and Paco De Lucía. Adding to his innovative approach to the jazz tradition, he has written symphonic works for the Orquestra Clássica de Espinho, the São Paulo Jazz Symphony Orchestra, and chamber pieces for the Israel Camerata Jerusalem and the Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia.

In 2012, Castañeda and his group played three concerts on Music of the Americas, each time with a different guest. We revisit the second evening, which featured vibraphonist Joe Locke.

Friday, January 22, 10 a.m.

Classical guitarist, educator, and curator, Nora Spielman studied with João Luiz and Julia Lichten at Purchase College where she recently completed her master's degree in performance. She later formed Odeon, a classical guitar concert series focused on providing a larger performance platform for the young talent of New York. Most recently, Spielman hosted "Women of Guitar," an event celebrating the female guitarists of New York performing on International Women's Day in 2019. In addition to private lessons, Spielman has taught guitar to younger students at NYC Guitar School, Sacred Heart Greenwich, and Intake Music and is currently the guitar teacher at La Scuola D'Italia. As a soloist, she most recently performed at the Americas Society alongside select students of New York's top classical guitar studios in "Showcase: Guitar Throughout the Americas."

From home in Brooklyn, Spielman sent us this version of Baden Powell's "Chôro para metrônomo."

The MetLife Foundation Music of the Americas concert series is made possible by the generous support of Presenting Sponsor MetLife Foundation.

The Spring 2021 Music program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Additional support provided by The Augustine Foundation.