Latin American Culture Week closes with the Folklore Urbano Orchestra!
Portrait of the Americas
Colombian-American composer and pianist Pablo Mayor continues his work celebrating the rich traditions of Latin America, while building bridges across cultures. His latest show will trace the origins of the music of the Americas back to its roots: Native, African, and Spanish cultures, while following the trajectory of migration and cultural encounters through today. The program will feature new musical settings, juxtaposed with the mostly Caribbean sounds that have defined Pablo’s work as a Pan-American composer and pianist in NYC in the past 20 years. Presented by Pablo Mayor’s Folklore Urbano Orchestra with special guests Rebeca Tomás of A Palo Seco, Jazz singer Leila Kharem, and Colombian vocalist Laura Rodríguez.
As a band leader, Pablo Mayor is unmatched, with skills as jazz composer and arranger with Grammy credits on Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra album “Offense of the Drum,” a career as pianist with both the legendary Cuban charanga Orquesta Broadway and the folkloric establishment Los Pleneros de la 21, with music recorded by Colombia’s most renowned folk singer Totó la Momposina. His recent score “Untold Tales” commissioned by a Culpeper Arts and Culture grant, features musical styles from around the world. The Folklore Urbano Orchestra has toured extensively, performing throughout Canada, Houston, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Colombia, and Pablo’s highly-acclaimed CD’s, Aviso, Baile/Dance,