Music

Premieres and performances by stellar Frost artists. Frost professor and acclaimed violinist Charles Castleman leads David Amram’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, while Frost Studio Music and Jazz chair John Daversa solos on the premiere of Stephen Guerra’s Portrait in Blue.

 

A new work by Henry Mancini Institute Fellow Bryan Kennard rounds out the evening.

MALIAN DIVA AND MAURITANIAN GRIOT: FEMALE AFRO-FUTURIST VOICES AT AFRO ROOTS FEST. Community Arts & Culture, MDC Live Arts, & Rhythm Foundation Present: Malian singer/guitarist Fatoumata Diawara and Mauritanian Griot Noura Mint Seymali at the 21st Afro Roots Festival on April 6, 2019 at the North Beach Bandshell. Buy tickets here. Hailed as one of the most vital standard-bearers of modern African music, Diawara takes her artistry to fresh and thrilling heights on her new album FENFO. Boldly experimental yet respectful of her roots, it’s a record that defines her as the voice of young African womanhood – proud of her heritage but with a vision that looks confidently to the future and a message that is universal. Her spectacular 2011 debut album Fatou made the Malian singer and guitarist the most talked about new African artist on the planet. FENFO (which translates as “something to Say”’) dramatically fulfils that promise on a set of vivid and original new compositions that draw on the rich experiences she has enjoyed since. Those she has worked with include some of the biggest names in contemporary music. She recorded with Bobby Womack and Herbie Hancock; played Glastonbury and other major festivals; and toured with the Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca. She assembled a West African super-group featuring Amadou and Mariam, Oumou Sangaré and Toumani Diabaté to record a song calling for peace in her troubled homeland; and climbed aboard Damon Albarn’s star-studded Africa Express, which culminated in her sharing a stage with Sir Paul McCartney. Mauritania’s Noura Mint Seymali draws deep on her West African and Maghreb roots to propel her family’s rich griot tradition into the 21st century. Her band conjures “a full-blown sandstorm of hypnotic grooves, melding traditional Mauritanian instruments, like the ardine and tidinite, within an electrified psychedelic rock band (Quietus, U.K.).” Her debut album Tzenni was hailed by VICE/Noisey as “arguably the best psych/blues album of the year” and its follow-up—Arbina—”the best album in the universe.” Afro Roots Fest is co-presented with Community Arts & Culture and MDC Live Arts, and is made possible with the support of the City of Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Department of Cultural Affairs, the Knight Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Frost faculty member Trudy Kane’s final concert before retirement features Frank Ticheli’s Silver Linings, a concerto for flute and wind ensemble commissioned by Peter Warshaw, in memory of his wife’s suicide.

 

Warshaw will also lead a discussion on the causes and signs of this tragic phenomenon.

A highly awarded American pianist, Sara Daneshpour’s accolades include winning the 2nd prize at the 2017 International Rubinstein Competition and many more. As a regular performer throughout the US and internationally, she has been praised as “a pianist capable of both grand gestures and introspection.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer

The City of Doral in partnership with The Rhythm Foundation will present Grammy winning latin rock band, La Santa Cecilia, along with South Florida’s own Elastic Bond and Mr. Pauer at the highly anticipated third annual Ritmo Doral, a multinational concert and cultural event that will take place on Saturday, March 23, 2019 in Downtown Doral Park. The free, family-friendly festival, promoting the community’s cultural, diplomatic, business and tourism ties, will feature food and drink vendors, samplings and activities for kids, as well as arts offerings and cultural activations from Doral’s Sister Cities and the local community. Los Angeles-based Grammy®-winning group La Santa Cecilia formed in 2007 by lead singer Marisol ‘La Marisoul’ Hernandez, accordionist/requinto player Jose ‘Pepe’ Carlos, percussionist Miguel ‘Oso’ Ramirez and bassist Alex Bendaña. The band was awarded the 2014 Grammy for ‘Best Latin Rock’ Album for their Treinta Dias (Universal Music). Named for Cecilia the patron saint of music herself, La Santa Cecilia exemplify the modern-day creative hybrid of Latin culture, rock and world music. The group draws inspiration from their favorite Pan-American rhythms – cumbia, bossa-nova, rumba, bolero, tango, jazz, even klezmer music. Their unique sounds and the experience of their colorful, passionate performances captivate both loyal fans and new listeners. The band has become the voice of a new bicultural generation in the United States, fully immersed in modern music, but always close to their Latin American influences and Mexican heritage. Opening for La Santa Cecilia will be two popular Miami-based alt-Latino artists, Elastic Bond and Mr. Pauer. Elastic Bond infuses an uplifting sound self-described as psychedelic tropical soul. The band began in 2006 as a loose studio collaboration between Venezuelan producer-musician Andrés Ponce and Honduran singer-songwriter Sofy Encanto, and soon developed into a unique blend of funk, hip hop, soul and Latin sounds written and performed in Spanish and English. In 2013, Elastic Bond signed with Nacional Records and released the album Real, which debuted at #1 on iTunes Latin Alternative charts. In 2017, the band released Honey Bun, co-produced by Grammy winner Adrian Quesada. Mr. Pauer™ (Toto González) is a Latin Grammy®-nominated producer and re-mixer born in the Caribbean city of Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, and based in Miami for over 21 years. He is considered one of the pioneers in the new sounds of Latin electrónica receiving recognition for his debut album Soundtrack earning him a nomination for ‘Best Alternative Album’ in the 12th annual Latin Grammy Awards. A music connoisseur and researcher of percussive rhythms from around the world, Mr. Pauer’s signature “Electrópico” sound is a unique Miami-born fusion of electronic dance music with genres originated between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn – salsa, zouk, reggae, cumbia, dancehall, merengue, kuduro, etc.

“Poet of the cello” Ross Harbaugh teams up with acclaimed pianist and fellow Frost faculty member Tian Ying on musical treasures by Shostakovich and Beethoven, plus soulful serenades by Saint-Saëns, Lecuona, and Bloch.

 

A prize-winning performer and member of the Bergonzi String Quartet, Harbaugh will also sing, play guitar, and deliver other musical surprises.

"John Lloyd Young has a disciplined one-in-a-million high tenor shading into falsetto that he can direct through the stratosphere." - The New York Times Our Broadway Concert Series presents Tony Award winner Lloyd Young who originated the role of "Frankie Valli" in Broadway's Tony Award-winning Best Musical and international hit, Jersey Boys. Young's concert: Introducing: John Lloyd Young, is a celebration of classic hits from the ‘50s and ‘60s presented in the authentic acoustic style of original rock ‘n’ roll, Doo-Wop and R&B standards. Along with tracks from Young’s critically acclaimed debut album “My Turn” the show features; “Sherry,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,” “In the Still of the Night” along with treasures by Roy Orbison, The Temptations, Carole King, Dusty Springfield, Al Green and Little Anthony.

Join pioneering composer Anthony Davis for a musical and emotional voyage through African-American history, with selections from his acclaimed, seminal operas X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X and Amistad, as well as two recent works: FIVE, based on the story of the Central Park Five, and The Darkest Light in the Heart, inspired by the racism-inspired Dylann Roof shooting.

 

Also featuring Frost alumnus Carl DuPont and former Frost faculty member Kevin Short.

“…the kind of musician that seems to have disappeared long ago, Aniello Desiderio sweeps away the audience with enthusiasm—as the great virtuosi, Paganini, Regondi or Giuliani of the 19th century did—racing through breath-taking changes of register, acrobatic arpeggios and scales of extraordinary brilliance and elegance like a Ferrari.” – Stuttgarter Zeitung “Actually he knocked me out.” – Chick Corea “Now I know the real sound of guitar.” – Lorin Maazel In 1992, Aniello Desiderio graduated with honors from the Conservatory of Music in Alessandria. He performed in public for the first time when he was 8 years old, displaying such outstanding gifts that music critics started to speak of him as an “infant prodigy”, “wunderkind”, “a genius”, “the Orpheus of the guitar”, “a guitarist of the century”, and “il Fenomeno.” He won 18 first International Awards in both national and international competitions, including: 1st Prize and Special Prize for the best interpretation of South American music at the International Guitar Competition in Habana, Cuba (1988) “Neapolitan of the Year” Award for Mr. Desiderio, Italy (1988) 1st Prize and Special Prize of the best interpretation of Tarrega’s music at the International Francisco Tarrega Competition, Benicassim, Spain (1992) 1st Prize at the International “Guerrero” Competition, Madrid, Spain (1995) He performed as a recitalist and soloist with orchestras in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa; regularly in the most important Theaters of the world including Carnegie Hall, Munich Philharmonie, Alte Opera, Tonhalle, Teatro delle Palme, Radio France, Die Gloke, Istanbul Philharmonie, Berlin Philharmonie, and Opera House Wien.