MARCH IS MUSIC 2021 – 15th
Anniversary!
Multigenre Concert Series Announces Virtual Lineup
Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling
Theater announces lineup of traditional, classical, and contemporary artists
marking the 15th Anniversary of
its popular March Is Music concert series. 15 free
events total! 8 concerts by Latinx and international talent plus 6 special episodes
of Pregones/PRTT’s Spotlight: Creatives at Work and Bronx Film
Wednesdays illustrate the series’ expansive curatorial vision and status as
a must-do event for artists and music lovers alike. Concerts newly recorded at
Pregones Theater in The Bronx, one of the most vibrant live performance venues
in all of New York City, and in partnership with MIFA/Victory Theatre. All broadcasts
free of charge on social media and public access channels of BronxNet Community
Television. A festive MIM15 Happy Hour for all friends of March Is
Music is scheduled for March 27, RSVP for invitation! March 1-28, 2021 — Free Online! WWW.PREGONESPRTT.ORG
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
Monday, March 1, 7:30PM – SPOTLIGHT: DESMAR GUEVARA
Pianist
Desmar Guevara, Pregones/PRTT’s longtime Resident Composer and Musical
Director, favors new music idioms in Latin Jazz and experimental and
non-traditional music for live theater performance. One of 5 Spotlight
episodes celebrating MIM15.
Wednesday, March 3, 9:30PM – HOMEGROWN: HIPLIFE
IN GHANA (Hip Hop)
Bronx
Film Wednesdays travels to Africa in honor the
of the 15th anniversary of March Is Music with a special
one-time screening of filmmaker Eli-Jacobs Fantauzzi’s HomeGrown: HipLife in
Ghana. A feature-length documentary about music group VIP (Vision In
Progress), the film tracks ten years of their journey from the ghetto in Accra
to their first international tour. They grow from being teenagers with a shared
dream to musicians with fans around the world. Interview with the director by
Sonyi Lopez of BronxNet.
Saturday,
March 6, 8PM – EL PUERTO RICO 3:
IDENTITY DUETS (Contemporary
Chamber)
The
Victory Players Contemporary Music Ensemble, under the direction of Music
Director Tianhui Ng, performs a virtual chamber concert featuring duets by six
composers commissioned by MIFA Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts
/ Victory Theatre in Holyoke, MA. Now in its third year, the goal of MIFA’s El
Puerto Rico is to acquaint audiences with the exciting work of living
Puerto Rican composers, this year’s stellar roster includes Gabriel Bouche
Caro, Carlos Carrillo, Johanny Navarro, Christian A. Quiñones, Iván Enrique
Rodríguez, and Omar Surillo.
Sunday, March 7, 4PM – MIKHAILOFF PRIMAKOV DUO (Classical)
Oxana
Mikhailoff and Vassily Primakov have known each other for 30 years. They spent
formative years at the Moscow State Conservatory under the tutelage of the
legendary Vera Gornostaeva. That experience formed an unbreakable bond between
the two pianists, whose playing is hailed by critics, respectively, as “poetic
and sensitive” and “exceptional, refined, multicolored.” For this MIM
anniversary they perform works by Mozart, Liszt, and Strauss. | Bronx Piano Sundays
Monday, March
8, 7:30PM – SPOTLIGHT: CARLOS CUEVAS + WALDO CHÁVEZ
Pregones/PRTT
collaborating pianist Carlos Cuevas and longtime ensemble musician and bass
whiz Waldo Chávez have blazed trails in Latin music and share a passion for the
work of live Latinx musical theater. One of 5 Spotlight episodes
celebrating MIM15.
Saturday,
March 13, 8PM – ALEX GARCÍA’s
AFROMANTRA (Latin
Jazz)
Led
by Chilean-Cuban drummer/composer Alejandro “Alex” García, AfroMantra combines
rich harmonies with the powerful rhythms and flavors of North and Latin
America. With a contemporary outlook, the four-piece band skillfully balances
original compositions that draw from Caribbean, South American, and North
American traditions and influences. “Magisterial in its melodic and harmonic
intent” (Latin Jazz Network). Lineup includes Carlos Chong on guitar,
Álvaro Benavides on bass, and Coto Pincheira on keyboard.
Sunday,
March 14, 4PM – SARA DAVIS BUECHNER (Classical)
Internationally acclaimed pianist
Sara Davis Buechner returns to MIM with a masterful program titled ¡Danza! A
Celebration of Hispanic Piano Music. The program features works by
Mompou, Cervantes, Turina, Longas, and Buechner’s own New York Scrapbook
with a section dedicated to The Bronx! Noted for her “intelligence, integrity
and all-encompassing technical prowess” (NY
Times), Sara is undoubtedly one of today’s most original
artists. | Bronx Piano Sundays
Monday,
March 15, 7:30PM – SPOTLIGHT: ÁLVARO BENAVIDES + NICKY LABOY
Two stalwarts of Pregones/PRTT’s
acting and music ensemble —bassist Álvaro Benavides and percussionist Nicky “Cajadura”
Laboy— share from their dazzling careers on and off the stage. One of 5 Spotlight
episodes celebrating MIM15.
Saturday, March 20,
8PM – YASSER TEJEDA + PALOTRÉ (Afro Dominican Fusion)
Yasser
Tejeda & Palotré is a New York-based Dominican fusion group that is giving
traditional folkloric music a new spin with jazz, rock, and Caribbean rhythms
in “a frenzied celebration of ancestral union” (Billboard). “Palotré
invigorates the bachata and merengue tradition with a post-Hendrix, post-Jaco,
post-Bob Marley aesthetic that is positively brimming with hip ideas and an
edgy electric quality” (Jazz Times).
Sunday,
March 21, 4PM – MARGARITA ROVENSKAYA (Classical)
Pianist
Margarita Rovenskaya grew up listening to classical composers in the kitchen,
while her grandmother cooked, and started taking lessons at the age of six. She
has performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad and is a prize-winner of the
prestigious Constantine the Great International Competition, WPTA Finland
International Competition, and American Fine Arts Festival, among others. For
her MIM debut, Rita will perform Antonín Dvořák’s thirteen-part Poetic Tone
Pictures, the Czech composer’s longest and most elaborate piano cycle. | Bronx Piano Sundays
Monday, March 22, 7:30PM – SPOTLIGHT: ALVAN
COLÓN LESPIER
March
Is Music is the dream come true of
Pregones/PRTT’s Associate Artistic Director and Chief Curator of music
programs, Alvan Colón Lespier. A seasoned director of musical theater, he talks
about his lifelong love of the stage, his creative relationship with all things
musical, his initial vision for a world-class music series curated by Latinx
artists and hosted annually in the South Bronx, and the series’ future yet! One
of 5 Spotlight episodes celebrating MIM15.
Saturday,
March 27, 8PM – HOMMY RAMOS’ TROMBEATZ (Latin
Jazz)
Led
by trombonist Hommy Ramos with percussionist Nelson Bello, Trombeatz is a
dynamic and adventuresome ensemble whose debut album, A Caribbean Thing,
was released to great acclaim by Truth Revolution. The group has performed in
Puerto Rico and throughout the eastern U.S. and is known for its high energy
and melodic skill. “At once soulful and sophisticated, [the band] reflects a
deep understanding of the Latin Jazz tradition, while taking the music
somewhere fresh” (Steve “Stevie-D” Davis).
Sunday, March 28, 4PM
– MORIAH TRENK/ZHENNI LI DUO (Classical)
Moriah Trenk, praised for her “fluid and graceful
style” (Villages News), is current Company Pianist at the prestigious
Pennsylvania Ballet. Zhenni Li, hailed for her “torrents of voluptuous sound” (Gramophone
Magazine), is a Steinway Artist and founder of both The Last Soirée and
Fishin’ in C music series. Both are seasoned, traveled, and daring musicians whose coming together
sets off sparks of technical prowess and sentiment. Their MIM program includes
works by Debussy, Brahms, Barber, and Piazzolla. | Bronx Piano Sundays
Monday, March 29, 7:30– SPOTLIGHT: JESSICA
MOYA + MILTON RUIZ
Pregones/PRTT’s Production Manager,
Jessica Moya, and our Sound Engineer, Milton Ruiz, know the magic of March Is
Music inside out and behind the scenes. They share from all they get to see and
make technically exact. One of 5 Spotlight episodes celebrating MIM15.
WHERE TO WATCH:
ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA:
Pregones/PRTT
—Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/pregonesprtt
—Vimeo: www.vimeo.com/pregonesprtt
—YouTube: www.youtube.com/pregonesprtt
ON CABLE TELEVISION:
CONCERTS
- BronxNET TV
—69 Optimum
—2135 FiOS
FILM -
BronxNET TV
—67 Optimum
—2133 FiOS
JOIN
HAPPY HOUR on March 28th at 7pm:
To join our extra special MIM 15th
Anniversary Happy Hour make sure to RSVP on our website. We will follow up with
event login information by email. Surprises in store!
www.pregonesprtt.org/march-is-music-2021
This program is made
possible, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of
Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and from the New York
State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the
New York State Legislature. Southwest Airlines is the Official Airline of
Pregones/PRTT. For a full list of funders, please visit www.pregonesprtt.org.
PREGONES/PRTT
/ Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater is an award-winning acting and music ensemble,
multidiscipline arts presenter, and owner/steward of bilingual arts facilities
in The Bronx and Manhattan. Our mission is to champion a Puerto Rican/Latinx
cultural legacy of universal value through creation and performance of original
plays and musicals, exchange and partnership with other artists of merit, and
engagement of diverse audiences. Our year-round programs offer attractive and
affordable opportunities for arts access and participation to NYC residents and
visitors alike.
MARCH
IS MUSIC / Building on a commitment to present artists of the highest caliber
in The Bronx, this multi-genre series showcases the range and vitality of
today’s varied musical cultures. Curated by seasoned Latinx artists, series
concerts and dialogues draw links between music, dance, and popular culture,
highlight ruptures and continuities in form and content, and make room for
intercultural fusion and exchange. Chief
curators: Alvan Colón Lespier, Associate Artistic Director, and Desmar Guevara,
Resident Composer and Musical Director.
BRONX
PIANO SUNDAYS / During and beyond the month of March, this subseries shines a
spotlight on one of Pregones/PRTT’s prized possessions: a Steinway & Sons
grand piano acquired with support from donors and Bronx Borough President Rubén
Díaz, Jr. Stellar pianists are invited to perform works of all styles and eras
on this magnificent concert hall instrument.
SPOTLIGHT: CREATIVES AT WORK / Inspiration and
provocations from performing artists and media makers of color. Filmed
primarily at Pregones Theater in The Bronx during the Covid-19 lockdown, the series
features theater, music, dance, and film/media artists you ought to know. Each
episode is a snappy 30-minute compendium of conversation and performance.
BRONX FILM WEDNESDAYS / Pregones/PRTT’s
monthly film series screens new, little-seen, and standout indie films. Travel
the world and open your mind to stories from as far as the imagination can go. Selections
are hand-picked to illustrate cultural, aesthetic, and geographic diversity,
each program includes winning films from our Bronx-based 21 Islands
International Short Film Fest.
