Music of the Americas: Starting 2026

Tuesday, January 13, 10 am

Ricardo Vignini and André Rass are back with this version of "Capuxeta," recorded in São Paulo. 

Wednesday, January 14, 10 am

João Arruda is a singer, percussionist, guitarist, and composer based in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Born in Campinas, São Paulo, he has built a career dedicated to the preservation and creative reimagining of Brazilian and Latin American popular music. He has released over 15 albums and has performed across Brazil, Latin America, and Europe. He participates in several artistic groups, composes soundtracks for theater, films, and documentaries, and works as a cultural producer, curator, and producer in numerous musical projects. 

His compositions and arrangements create a dialogue between traditional forms and contemporary creation, combining violas, percussion, and collective singing. His voice is part of the soundscape, blending with the voices of nature. Committed to organic sonorities, he is also a farmer working with syntropic agriculture and reforestation, bringing concepts of regeneration, interdependence, and care for the land into the core of his musical work.

From the countryside near Caldas and with Levi Rodrigo on viola de cabaça, a traditional guitar made of a large gourd, he sent us two songs. Today, we share Rodrigo's "Viola."

Thursday, January 15, 10 am

From Paraty, Brazilian singer-songwriter Luís Perequê is back with this video of the children's song "Manacá da Serra," which is used in schools to promote environmental awareness. 

Friday, January 16, 10 am

Che Kintu is an Argentine tango and folk music group from Buenos Aires founded as a duo in 2022. They toured South America and Europe and settled in Londres, in the province of Catamarca, in 2023. Members Agustín Sarno (guitar, arrangements, and voice) and Inti Diago (voice and percussion) invited guitarist Malena Puyalto to join them in this version of the tango "Barrio Pobre" by Vicente Belvedere and Francisco García Jiménez, recorded outdoors. 

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

The 2025–2026 series is also supported, in part, by the Howard Gilman Foundation, Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, The Augustine Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and The Amphion Foundation.