Loisaida, My Love

[Image: Duo Mundi and Jesse Montgomery]

A celebration of the vibrant LatinX culture of the Lower East Side and the musical talents the area has nurtured, from the classical virtuoso pianist Teresa Carreño to the tango master Astor Piazzola and salsa superstar Celia Cruz.

Piano prodigy Teresa Carreño came to New York from Venezuela as a child and launched her career in a debut at the Academy of Music on 14th Street in 1862 at the age of 9. She went on to become one of the great virtuoso pianists of the era, The “Valkyrie of the Piano” wrote over 75 works for piano, voice, choir and orchestra, and championed the works of composers Edward McDowell and Amy Beach. The popular “Kleiner Waltz” was written for her daughter Teresita and she frequently performed it as an encore.

Mexican composer Carlos Chavez lived in Greenwich Village as a young man in the 1920s, drawn to its rich cultural mix. His songs reflect his deep interest in folk and indigenous musics.

Astor Piazzola lived on E.10th Street as a child. His “Nuevo tango” style revolutionized the traditional Argentinian tango, incorporating classical and jazz elements. The classical references permeate “Fuga y Mysteria”, here performed by Duo Mundi.

Composer Jessie Montgomery grew up on the Lower East Side and attended Third Street music School. She has been hailed by the BBC as “One of the most distinctive and communicative voices in the U.S. as a player and a creator”. “Loisaida, My Love” is a poem by the Puerto-Rican born activist and community-builder Bimbo Rivas, an ode to the neighborhood he loved.

Cuban-born Tania Leon is a Pulitzer Prize winning composer whose music is known for its rich textures and infectious and complex rhythms, Del Caribe, soy! is dedicated to flautist Nestor Torres, and builds on his improvisatory fragments, mixing in bird calls, whistles, fragments of Latin melodies, atonal piano effects and gestures that characterize music of the Caribbean.

Soprano Adriana Valdes leads Third Street’s Jazz Ensemble in an homage to Tito Puente and Celia Cruz to end the evening.

Young artists of the Third Street Music School will open at 6pm with a prelude concert of LatinX music.

Composers

• Tania Leon
• Jesse Montgomery
• Astor Piazzola
• Teresa Carreño
• Carlos Chavez
• Tito Puente
• Celia Cruz

Performers

• Adriana Valdes, soprano
• Duo Mundi - George Lopez and Gulimina Mahamuti, piano duo
• George Lopez, piano
• Eric Eaton, cello
• Ceylon Mitchell, Flute
• Elizabeth G. Hill, piano
• Vanessa Lee, piano
• Joan Forsyth, piano
• Third Street Jazz Ensemble

6 pm Community Young Artist Prelude

7 pm Loisaida, My Love