• Submitted by: manso
• Arts and Culture
• 05 / 11 / 2011

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2011.05.10 - 20:48:54 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. Havana, Cuba.- Students from Boston’s Berklee College of Music are presently on a tour of Cuba. On this, their second visit to the island, they will carry out an intense program of concerts, participate in the 2011 edition of Cubadisco –Cuba’s International Record Fair and Contest-, and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the piece Musica para danza by Juan Blanco (1919-2008), the so-called architect of electro-acoustic music in Cuba and Latin America.

According to professor and saxophonist Neil Leonard, the man behind this cultural exchange initiative, during its stay on the island, the group of Berklee students, headed by the vice-presidents of this US prestigious institution, will be making several presentations: Sunday, May 15, at Santiago de Cuba’s Dolores Hall  (11:00 am); Tuesday, May 17, at 3:30 pm at Havana’s Institute of Higher Arts (ISA); and Friday, May 20, at Havana’s National Museum of Fine Arts (7:00 pm), the Granma newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Leonard added that the concert agenda will focus particularly on the theme Musica y movimiento (Music and movement), and includes a presentation along with Cuba’s Contemporary Dance Ensemble at Havana’s National Theater on Wednesday, May 18, at 11 am. On that same day, US music students will be sharing the stage with the Arango brothers at the capital’s Casa de las Americas cultural institution at 8:00 pm.

In November last year, Leonard made possible the first concert by Berklee students and graduates ever made in Cuba. On that occasion, they were accompanied by Cuba’s National Laboratory of Electro-Acoustic Music.

During the 1980s, Leonard participated in many International Electro-acoustic Music Festivals held in Varadero, organized by the author of Suite Erotica. "Juan Blanco was a mentor to me. When I started making electro-acoustic music, Juan Blanco’s artistic sense and originality drew my attention. It was stimulating to see the risks he took when creating music. Getting to know him and working with him became an unforgettable life experience," he commented.

After the May concerts, we are planning on a third visit to Cuba before the year ends, pointed out Leonard, who is deeply satisfied with this wonderful exchange opportunity, and happy to see one of his dreams come true. "I grew up in the world of jazz, and both jazz and US music can never be understood without knowing Cuban music first."

(Granma)