Arts & Entertainment Markham - Issue 7

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presents

Made in Cuba FRI. MAR. 1 I 8 PM

Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba warms up Canada in the heart of winter, when Flato Markham Theatre begins its Cuban Focus on March 1.

The group of 17 dancers and eight musicians and singers is a genuine expression of the cultural melting pot that defines Cuban culture.

Director and choreographer, Lizt Alfonso, founded the company in October 1991. It was the first Cuban dance company to perform at the Latin Grammy® Awards. Together with Enrique Iglesias, Descemer Bueno y Gente de Zona, they also performed in the music video Bailando. The company’s performances combine elements of flamenco, ballet and contemporary dance with

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Spanish and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Artistically flamboyant and musically fulfilling, Made In Cuba is a love story that will take audiences to the four corners of the island country and transport them into the midst of colourful Cuban life.

ABOUT LIZT ALFONSO Founder, Director, Choreographer, Master

Enterprising, perseverant and charismatic, Lizt Alfonso had a clear dream when she was a little girl: founding her own dance company and taking it to the world’s stages. That dream became a reality when, at the age of 23, she founded Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba (LADC), fusion dance company that has become one of the most prestigious in the dance and musical world for its novel style: a fusion never seen before.

She began in the arts world at the age of four, when she received her first ballet class.

From then on, her training took place at prestigious Cuban ballet schools and Spanish dance academies until she graduated from the island’s Higher Institute for the Arts.

Later, she directed the Prodanza Workshops at Havana’s Grand Theater, set up the Iberian Dance Ensemble – the antecedent of her current company.

Her constant devotion for educating children and young people in the best human and artistic values led her to establish and direct her Dance Academy (Vocational Workshops), Children’s and Youth Ballets and the Summer Courses and Choreography Competitions, all of them with the company’s seal.

The artist has created, choreographed and directed several large-format shows, including Entre Palmas y Cantares – Between Palm Trees and Songs – in 1992; Al-Andaluz de gitanas y duendes - Al-Andaluz of gypsies and fairies – in 1995; Habaneras, el vuelo de la paloma – Habaneras, the flight of the dove – in 1995; Sinceramente FGL – Sincerely FGL – in 1998;

Fuerza y Compás – Strength and Rhythm – in 1999, Elementos – Elements – in 2002; Alas – Wings – in 2006 and y Vida in 2007. She has also been the artistic director of important galas in Cuba, such as the ones dedicated to the Day of Cuban Culture in 2004 and 2005.

Under her guidance, Lizt Alfonso Ballet Dance Cuba became the first Cuban company which staged a show Fuerza y Compás in Broadway at the New Victory Theater in 2003. .

The numerous awards and recognitions that she has received include The National Culture Order; Canada’s Dora Award in the category of Best Choreography of a Musical; the First Choreography Prize by the Cuban Artists and Writers Association – UNEAC- in 2006 and 2009 and the Third Choreography Prize by the same association in 1998; the Cuban Artist Foundation of New York Award in 2001 and the Replica of the Machete of Máximo Gómez’s.

At the request from the Presidential Committee for Arts and Humanities (2016), she received the “International Focus Award” from former US first lady Michelle Obama.

Hotel Partner:

Cuban Focus sponsored by

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SAT. MAR. 2 I 8 PM

Canadian singer-songwriter, actor, radio and television host, and JUNO Award-winner Roch Voisine has had an impressive career spanning over two decades. Voisine’s musical breakthrough came with his 1989 album Hélène which sold three million copies worldwide. In 1993, Voisine had his biggest English-language hit with the single and album both entitled I’ll Always Be There. Over the years, he has continued to alternatively record both French and English-language albums, and in 2017 released a new studio album, Devant Nous.

BACKGROUND

Roch Voisine was born on March 26, 1963 in Edmunston New Brunswick and grew up in Saint-Basile. He is the father of two boys, Killian and Alix-Elouan.

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1986 to 1991: The beginning

Roch Voisine had his great music debut in the summer of 1986 where he sang before more than 50,000 people at LaRonde in Montreal on Canada Day. And, after many television appearances, he hosted Top Jeunesse in 1988, a television show which brought him considerable public attention. A year later, he interpreted Danny Ross, a leading role in the popular television series “Lance et Compte”.

In June 1989, he released his first album Hélène, which in a very short time became a huge success in Quebec and in France.

Just three weeks after the album was released in France, Hélène held first spot for nine consecutive weeks on the Top 50 chart. In 1990, he launched his first french tour and released the

album, Double, on which many English songs could be heard.

1991 to 1992: Rochmania

In March 1991, Voisine embarked on his second European tour: thirty eight concerts in the biggest venues and performing before 250 000 fans. In July 1992, he participated in Canada’s 125th anniversary celebrations in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II. He sang “I’ll Always Be There”, a song written in collaboration with the well-known Canadian Producer, David Foster. For this event Foster accompanied Voisine on the piano.

1993 to 1999: Consecration

In early 1993, Voisine learned that he had been included in the collection of celebrities at the famous Musée Grévin in Paris and that a lifesize wax figure of himself would be rubbing shoulders with the sculptures of Madonna and Patricia Kaas!

Between concerts, he travelled between Paris, Montreal, Nashville and New York to produce Coup de tête which was released in September 1994.

In May 1995, he returned to the United States and settled in Los Angeles and fully engaged himself into his creative passion. He began writing the lyrics for his new English album, Kissing Rain. He would devote the whole of 1996 to record the album and surround himself with the finest musicians from California and a few special guests. The album was released in Canada in late November 1996. In 1997, Voisine set out on a new tour to promote the album, having just been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

1998-1999: Chaque feu

With the support of a new team, Voisine dedicated his time in the preparation and recording of Chaque feu, his first French album in five years. The album consisted of fourteen entirely new songs and was released in Quebec and in France.

2000 to 2007

In the summer of 2000, Voisine returned to the studio to record two Christmas albums, one in french and the other one in english.

A Christmas concert followed the release of L’album de Noël and of Christmas is Calling.

In January 2001, Voisine travelled to Africa as a Unicef representative. Upon his return, he began to record his 11th album, Roch Voisine, which was launched in Quebec and in France.

In 2002, the album Higher was released followed by Je te serai fidèle which climbed rapidly to the top of the best sellers list with more than 500 000 copies sold in France, Switzerland and Belgium.

The album Sauf si l’amour was released in Europe in October 2005 and was followed by a European tour.

On May 19, 2007 Voisine received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Moncton, Edmunston Campus, to commemorate his musical accomplishments.

2008 to 2010: Americana In August, a new album Americana was released on the European market and was recorded in Nashville. Americana I would be the first in a series of albums regrouping the indispensables of North American music. It is mainly an English album with just a hint of French.

In late 2008, he was presented with the Excellence Award for Leadership in Canada by the University of Ottawa in recognition for his participation in the Unicef organization in Africa.

June 2010, Americana III California With the release of Americana III, Voisine continued to perform his American greatest hits but this time with a hint of the west coast; Simon and Garfunkel, The Mamas and the Papas, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, America.

In 2010 he also released the album Confidences in two separate European and Canadian editions. In 2013 he came back with an album of duos called Duophonique.

Roch Voisine was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1995 and a member of the Order of New Brunswick in 2014.

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2019 Flato Markham Theatre Advisory Board Mayor Frank Scarpitti, City of Markham Stephen Timms, IBM, Theatre Advisory Board Chair Aleem Israel, AFINA Capital Management Inc. Vice-Chair Anne Gilligan, Weins Canada Deborah Jestin Diane Lai Ronald Minken, Minken Employment Lawyers Justin Reid, Troilus Gold Corp

Sophia Sun, Phoenix Financial Inc. Srinka Wallia Amy Woods, Allstate Suelyn Cheong, Principal, Unionville High School Stephen Chait, Director of Economic Growth, Culture and Entrepreneurship Eric Lariviere, General Manager

Honourary Patron

Shakir Rehmatullah, President, Flato Developments Inc.

Flato Markham Theatre Team Eric Lariviere, General Manager Scott Hill, Rental Business Manager Andrew Rosenfarb, Production & Facility Manager Lia Baird, Client Services Coordinator Chris MacBride, Theatre Technician/Team Lead Helen Mah, Business Coordinator

Monica Pain, Discovery Program Coordinator Gary Restoule, Theatre Attendant Vince Rotondi, Theatre Technician Linda Stott, Marketing Assistant Terry Tice, Box Office Debbie Watson, Theatre Administrative Clerk

Box Office: 905.305.SHOW (7469) Order tickets online at www.markhamtheatre.ca

House Programme Editor: Nicole Fletcher For advertising rates, call 416-884-4343 or email nicolefletcher@rogers.com

Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy at the time of printing.

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Weave exhibit at the Varley

Canadian artists Chris Kline and Yam Lau present Weave, a two-person exhibition that reflects precise involvement in the fields of force of materials.

In an unusual pairing, the artists’ respective works find surprising affinities: Kline’s tender and rigorous hand-coloured paintings contrast with Lau’s gliding cinematic movements through simulated space, but both artists are intimately involved with the entanglement of idea and substance, being and becoming, memory and form, especially as woven through or across screens.

We generally understand two sorts of screens in our daily encounters: the ones that work by opacity to block something out, providing privacy, for example, and the other sort of screens that give us a window into the visual world. As they appear in these artists’

Canadian artists Chris Kline and Yam Lau present the Weave exhibit at the Varley Art Gallery. works, screens shift between withholding and revealing, layering and disclosing unfolding intricacies.

This exhibition, curated by Stephen Horne and Sunny Kerr, is on display until Apr. 21 at the Varley Art Gallery.

March Break at the Museum

Markham Museum has a lot going on during March Break.

The Family Drop-In Program runs from 10 am to 4 pm March 11-15. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to use your five senses to navigate through the museum by solving puzzles, unlocking secrets, cracking codes and hunting for clues to find the missing Quoin. The activities are designed for participation by all members of the family and is ideal for families with children aged 4-10.

The March Break Explorer Camp runs from 9 am to 4 pm March 11 -15 for ages 4-10.

Campers will get a taste of what the museum has to offer within its 25 acres from mini-mysteries to amazing machines and pottery to hands-on science experiments.

March Break Fashion, Fabric and Fun runs from 9 am to 4 pm March 11-15 for creative kids,

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7-12 years old, who have a passion for fashion.

Throughout the week, children will explore the interactive textile studio and try their hand at basic weaving, sewing and felting techniques. By the end of the week, the budding designers will get to show off their works at a fashion show.

The March Break Pottery Camp runs from 9 am to noon March 11-15. Campers, aged 7-12 years old will create projects throughout the week while being taught by the museum’s professional potter. No experience is required and all materials and firing are included in the fee.

Family Sundays, Trail of the Black Walnut, are scheduled on March 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 from 10 am to 5 pm. Learn why Markham was such an attractive place for early settlers.

Call the museum at 905-305-5970 for fees, barcodes, before and after-care and for more information.

Cuba comes north this March at the Flato Markham Theatre

Canada’s winter weather seems to last forever. The cold here actually overstays the winter calendar by as much as a month most years, making it easy to forget about summer fun. This winter, however, the Flato Markham Theatre has a plan to keep warmer days and hot nights on the minds of music and dance lovers.

Throughout March, the unmistakably warm weather culture of Cuba and Latin America will be featured over three performances at the theatre. More than just a reminder of warmer days, and in

Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba

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addition to offering cultural insight into a complicated part of the word, these shows bring some of the most impressive musicians and dancers to the Flato Markham Theatre stage that audiences will see all season.

The trio of shows begins on March 1 with the renown dance company, Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba presenting a brand new production, Made in Cuba. The show promises to be a flamboyant love story that evokes the four corners of Cuba and Cuban life.

Dance Cuba was formed nearly two decades ago by, then 23-year-old, Alfonso.

The Havana-based organization has since become global cultural ambassadors for their home country and spends many months each year on tour. Performed by an all-female company of 17 dancers with eight musicians and singers, the intent of Alfonso’s work is to pay tribute to the people of her country.

A week later, on March 7, a unique fusion of music from two Latin American countries comes to Markham. Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo joins forces with celebrated Cuban pianist Chuchito Valdés for a very unique evening.

“I am very happy to come to Markham and bring my Brazilian music and guitar playing,” says Figueiredo. “I am also so happy to be able to be sharing the stage

Diego Figueiredo

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Chuchito Valdés with Cuba’s Chuchito Valdés and blending our music together.”

Valdés descends from Cuban music royalty via his bandleader father, Chucho Valdés, while Figueiredo is widely considered one of the most exciting artists in Latin jazz and one of the world’s greatest guitarists.

“There’s going to be a lot of flavour and a lot of improvisation,” says Figueiredo.

“I expect a very relaxed and spontaneous night.”

They’ll be joined by a full rhythm section and more to keep the music jumping.

“All audiences have different feelings but the audiences in Canada are hot,” said Figueiredo. “They’re my favourite.”

Later in March, Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval brings his reputation as a dynamic and exciting live performer to Markham.

He began studying trumpet when he was 12, but his life changed forever when he

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became a protégé of the legendary master, Dizzy Gillespie. Since then, Sandoval has won ten Grammy® awards, six Billboard awards and even an Emmy.

“Arturo is very much looking forward to sharing an evening with the wonderful audiences in Markham,” says Sandoval’s manager, Melody Lisman. “He’s got a great show lined up.”

In addition to his trumpet playing, the March 23 evening promises to bring performances on piano, timbales and even some vocal scatting. Sandoval will even turn in a vocal on a surprise ballad.

“There is going to be a lot to enjoy,” says Lisman, “So don’t miss it.”

These shows may not actually melt the snow outside, but they will give you a chance to experience a legendarily hot culture.

Tickets for all three shows are available by calling 905-305-7469.

Arturo Sandoval

THU. MAR. 7 I 8 PM COMBINING TWO OF THE MOST EXCITING ARTISTS IN LATIN JAZZ, CREATES AN EXPLOSION OF MUSIC AND CRAZED FANS. DIEGO FIGUEIREDO

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Diego Figueiredo (pronounced fig-a-ray-doe) is considered one of the most talented guitar players in the world today. He is the winner of several important competitions

including the Montreux Jazz Competition and the VISA Prize. Figueiredo has released over nineteen albums to date, three DVD’s, and several instructional books. His music is a fusion between Jazz, Bossa Nova and Classical. Figueiredo’s unique interpretations, along with his phenomenal technique and emotion, has created an explosion of adoring fans and concert goers. Figueiredo has performed in over forty countries around the world.

Figueiredo was born in Franca, Brazil, in 1980, and at the age of four, he used to strike poses carrying his small guitar. At six, he got a mandolin, which was kept in a very special place in his house. Figueiredo played many instruments before choosing the electric guitar when he was twelve, playing in theatres and local pubs, revealing the great art of improvising and harmonizing. At 15, he conquered theatres and nightclubs in many different Brazilian states, playing solo or with renowned musicians.

Besides being a guitar player, Figueiredo is a producer, arranger, orchestrator, and multi-instrumentalist.

Figueiredo has recorded and performed with big names like Gilberto Gil, João Bosco, Roberto Menescal, Toquinho, Belchior, Fafá de Belém, Angela Maria, Toninho Horta, Larry Coryell, Ken Peplowski, Lewis Nash, John Clayton, Cyrille Aimée and others.

CHUCHITO VALDÉS

The hot sounds of Cuba’s roots and modern jazz come alive in the explosive hands of pianist and two-time Latin Grammy® nominee Chuchito Valdés. Following in the footsteps of his famed father Chucho Valdés and grandfather Bebo Valdés, he continues the legacy of great piano players form Cuba.

With influences of Caribbean rhythms and jazz, Valdés creates an exciting and energetic blend of spicy music that drives audiences wild. This piano master captivates with his sensitivity and drives excitement with his dynamic band.

Valdés has recorded and performed piano with the world renown Cuban band, Irakere, which he led for two years. He has also performed at festivals, clubs and concerts throughout the world—from Cuba and the Caribbean to North America, South America, and Europe.

Valdés is recognized as a master of Cuban music including Son, Danzon, Cuban Timba and Guaguanco. He has also extensively studied classical music including harmony and composition. His original compositions and arrangements draw on classical harmonic and structural techniques. In his performances, Valdés’ music draws on many styles including Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz, Bebop, Danzon, Cha-Cha-Cha, Son Montuno and much more. Chuchito Valdés currently resides in Cancun, Mexico and is a frequent performer in the United State and Canada.

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Announcing a new International Music Festival and Competition

A new International Music Festival and Competition (IMFC) has been conceived to provide musicians of all ages opportunities to perform, to conduct and to write music while receiving professional guidance by leading professionals in the classical music industry.

The competition will take place from May 24 to June 2 at Cornell Recital Hall in Markham and will offer adjudication in piano, strings, voice, guitar, woodwinds, brass, harp, percussion, chamber music, conducting and composition.

Members of the jury panel are esteemed professors and musicians from the University of Toronto (Dr. Jeffrey McFadden, guitar; Andrew Ascenzo, strings; Leslie Newman, woodwinds); York University (Christina Petrowska-Quilico, piano); the Royal Conservatory of Music (Dr. Michael Berkovsky, piano); National Ballet of Canada (Dr. Linn Kuo, strings); the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Gary Kulesha, composer); Kindred Spirits Orchestra (Maestro Kristian Alexander, music

director); as well as harpist Dr. Teresa Suen-Campbell, mezzo-soprano Andrea Ludwig and brass pedagogue Michael Fedyshyn.

“Home to 18 orchestras, 67 choirs, the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet of Canada, Tafelmusik, Massey Hall, Telus Centre and the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto is considered internationally Canada’s capital of classical music,” said Kristian Alexander, IMFC artistic director.

“The International Music Festival and Competition aims to discover talented musicians, conductors and composers, and provide them performing opportunities, career advancement and professional advice.”

At least 50 gold, silver and bronze medallions, as well as various prizes and scholarships will be awarded at the gala concert in June 2019. Students and young professionals of all nationalities, ages, levels and musical disciplines are invited to apply at InterMusic.ca before April 12.

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Queen presents

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA FRI. MAR. 8 I 8 PM ABOUT CLASSIC ALBUMS LIVE

Remember when you used to listen to an entire album? Classic Albums Live does.

For the first time in popular music, the greatest albums from the 60s and 70s are recreated live on stage, note for note – cut for cut.

“This has never been done before,” says series producer, Craig Martin. “There’s a real thirst to hear these albums performed start to finish. For many of us this is the music we grew up with – the soundtrack of our lives.”

“All of our focus is put into the music.” Says Martin, “We perform the works of the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin the same way an orchestra performs the works of Mozart. We don’t bother with imitation or impersonation. The bands are big – upwards of 11 pieces. We research these albums and go to great lengths to reproduce each and every sound live. We never use tape or computers. We’ll bring in a children’s choir, a sitar player a string quartet, whatever it takes to get it right.”

Each album calls for a new group of musicians. “That’s the real challenge,” says Martin, “Finding the right musicians for the right album. So far we’ve been bang on with every performance.” Members of Nelly Furtado, Moist, Jesse Cooke, Honeymoon Suite, David Usher and the Headstones have all taken part in the performances.

ABOUT QUEEN’S A NIGHT AT THE OPERA A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was reportedly the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release. The album takes its name from the Marx Brothers film of the same name, which the band watched one night at the studio complex when recording.

The album was recorded at various studios across a four-month period in 1975.

They employed a complex production that extensively used multitrack recording, and the songs incorporated a wide range of styles, such as ballads, music hall, dixieland, hard rock and progressive rock influences. Aside from their usual equipment, Queen also utilized a diverse range of instruments such as a double bass, harp, ukulele and more.

Upon release, the album topped the UK Albums Chart for four non-consecutive weeks.

It peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart and became the band’s first Platinum-selling album in the US. The worldwide sales for the album are over six million copies. It also produced the band’s most successful single in the UK, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which became their first UK number one and one of the bestselling singles in both the UK and the world.

A Night at the Opera received contemporary mixed reviews from critics, but they praised its production and the diverse musical themes, as well as recognizing it as the album that established Queen as superstars. In 1977, it received two Grammy® nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and Best Arrangement for Voices. Retrospective reviews, however, have hailed it as Queen’s magnum opus, and as one of the greatest albums in rock history. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it number 231 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2018, it was inducted into the Grammy® Hall of Fame.

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SUN. MAR. 10 I 4 PM

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Led by internationally-recognized conductor and music director Kerry Stratton, Toronto Concert Orchestra serves as the orchestrain-residence at historic Casa Loma where they perform the city’s perennial favourite summer series, Symphony in the Gardens, to sold-out audiences. An itinerant professional orchestra, Toronto Concert Orchestra may also be heard through the spring and fall in some of downtown Toronto’s most magnificent concert venues and churches and in communities across Ontario where they deliver concerts and music outreach/education programs.

Their musicians perform for film, theatre, ballet, and opera. Many are engaged in teaching the next generation of musicians, and most have been playing with the orchestra since it was founded.

In supporting new generation artists, the Orchestra collaborates with the Chinese Cultural Centre of Toronto’s International Piano Competition; Andrew Chan’s Harps on the Hill Festival which celebrates the new generation of harpists; and PRIME, a charitable organization that delivers one-on-one mentoring program for creative and underserved children and youth from at-risk

neighborhoods, providing opportunities for their student artists to gain orchestral performing experience.

Maestro Kerry Stratton brings a new world dynamism to old world music. His performances are featured on some of the world’s top labels. He regularly visits Europe and Asia, performing and touring with many of its orchestras, and bringing some of the best of them to Canada on tour.

Peter and the Wolf is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 as a symphonic fairy tale for children.

The narrator tells a children’s story, while the orchestra illustrates it. It is Prokofiev’s most frequently performed work, and one of the most frequently performed works in the entire classical repertoire.

Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnaval des Animaux) is a humorous musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The work was written for private performance by an ad hoc ensemble of two pianos and other instruments and lasts around 25 minutes.

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Photo: Jarek Pepkowski

THU. MAR. 21 I 8 PM

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“I want to take people to places they haven’t been,” says Jesse Cook, JUNO winning master guitarist, known for his intoxicating fusion of world music, who has travelled the globe looking for sounds that resonate with him. “I like finding common ground for different music traditions, a space where music from around the world can come together. A place where modern sounds can mix with ancient timbres.”

“There are many borders in our lives.

Some others have built, some we create for ourselves. Whenever I ventured beyond the borders of my life, I have been the better for it. I grew up in the cold war, in a world of walls and borders. But then people began to change the way they thought. The walls came down. Europe united, and people began thinking of themselves as global citizens. The rising nationalism of today is exploiting our differences, not celebrating them. We are back to building walls, and I don’t want any part of it. Humanity, artistry, joy, and of course, love…these things don’t stop at some line on the map. If music is the universal language, maybe there is something it can teach us?”

Cook also helps foster this spirit of cultural exploration visually through his photography on Instagram as well as on his popular weekly video releases on his YouTube channel and through Facebook.

He was born in Paris, to Canadian parents.

The family moved to southern France, where they bought a small home built in the 16th Century, for 100 dollars. “It was like stepping into the Middle Ages,” Cook

recalls. “Manitas de Plata was popular then, and it was his albums that got me interested in the sound of flamenco guitar.”

After moving back to Canada, Cook started guitar lessons. “My teacher played flamenco. Then, when I’d visit my dad in France, he was living next door to Nicolas Reyes, the singer of the Gipsy Kings. I saw gipsy kids on the corner playing that way too.” It was as if the world conspired to get me interested in this style and I was hooked.” It was when he heard the Paco de Lucia, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin album, Friday Night in San Francisco that the die was cast. “I was captivated by the sheer virtuosity and freedom that people could play whatever they wanted, creating in that space between jazz and flamenco.”

Cook studied classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music, moving on to York University, and jazz at Berklee College in Boston. On his albums, and in concert, Cook explores the roots of flamenco, and its many offshoots, from India to Spain, and on to Cuba and Latin America. Along the way, he developed his signature synthesis of world music. He has released ten genre-defying albums, garnering eleven Juno nominations – and one win, in 2001 for Free Fall – in the World Music and Instrumental categories.

As Cook reflects back on his journey so far, “Music has a way of touching your soul, and every tradition on earth has its own way of doing that. When we venture beyond our cultural and geographic borders, we can gain the whole world.”

Media Partner:

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SAT. MAR. 23 I 8 PM

A protégé of the legendary jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, Sandoval was born in Artemisa, a small town in the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, on November 6, 1949, just two years after Gillespie became the first musician to bring Latin influences into American Jazz. Sandoval began studying classical trumpet at the age of twelve, but it didn’t take him long to catch the excitement of the jazz world. He has since evolved into one of the world’s most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist and composer.

He is one of the most dynamic and vivacious live performers of our time, and has been seen by millions at the Oscars, at the Grammy® Awards, and the Billboard Awards.

Sandoval has been awarded 10 Grammy® Awards, and nominated 19 times; he has also received six Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award. The latter for his composing work on the entire underscore of the HBO movie based on his life, “For Love or Country” that starred Andy Garcia as Arturo.

His latest release in 2018 features an incomparable who’s-who of the most talented artists today! This landmark album also contains an unparalleled mix of collaborations with legends and new generation voices from the worlds of Pop, Jazz, Classical and Latin music coming together for the Cuban maestro’s first duets release including: Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams and Ariana Grande, Plàcido Domingo, Celia Cruz, Josh Groban, Juan Luis Guerra, Al Jarreau, Alejandro Sanz, Prince Royce and David Bisbal.

“Ultimate Duets” marks the continuation of a distinguished four-decade catalogue of over 40 groundbreaking titles.

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Sandoval was a founding member of the Grammy® Award-winning group Irakere, whose explosive mixture of jazz, classical, rock and traditional Cuban music caused a sensation throughout the entertainment world. In 1981, he left Irakere to form his own band, which garnered enthusiastic praise from critics and audiences all over the world, and continues to do so.

Sandoval is also a renowned classical musician, performing regularly with the leading symphony orchestras from around the world.

Sandoval has composed his own “Concerto for Trumpet & Orchestra”, which can be heard on “Arturo Sandoval: “The Classical Album.”

Sandoval has performed with the foremost orchestras in the country as well as abroad and recorded John Williams’ Trumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. His classical artistry has earned him the respect and admiration from the most prestigious conductors, composers and symphony orchestras worldwide.

Sandoval’s versatility can be heard on recordings with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Woody Shaw, Michel Legrand, Josh Groban, Tony Bennett, Bill Conti, and Stan Getz to Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Rod Stewart and Alicia Keys amongst many others. He has performed with John Williams with the Boston Pops, and at the Super Bowl with Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle.

His underscore compositions can also be heard in movies including, Clint Eastwood’s most recent film “The Mule” starring Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper, “1001 to 1” starring Beau Bridges, “At Middleton” starring Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga, Dave Grusin’s soundtrack for “Havana” and “Random Heart”, in the “Mambo

Kings” soundtrack with his Grammy® nominated composition “Mambo Caliente”, in the soundtrack of “The Perez Family”, “61”, “Mr. Wrong”, the documentary “Oscar”, and “The Family Fuentes” among others. He also was commissioned by the Kennedy Center to compose the music for the ballet “Pepito’s Story”, “Soul Possessed”, as well as “Oman O Men”, and “ The Chocolate Hot Nutcracker”, choreographed by Debbie Allen.

Sandoval reaches beyond the scope of mere effort. His struggles while in Cuba and since his defection have given him more energy and strength, urging him to accomplish and surpass his childhood dreams. Filled with a virtuoso capability, he desires nothing more than to share his gift with others who feel the same intense adoration for music as he does. One frequently speaks of Sandoval’s virtuoso technical ability or his specialty in high notes, but he who has seen him on the piano, lyrically improvising a ballad, or has had the opportunity to enjoy the diversity of his music, through his compositions from the most straight ahead jazz, Latin jazz or classical, knows that Sandoval is a prominent musician, and one recognizes that he is one of the most brilliant, multifaceted and renowned musicians of our time.

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