June 27, 2006

Berklee College of Music, La Casa de La Cultura/ Center for Latino Arts, and Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion (IBA), are pleased to present the second-annual Tito Puente Latin Music Series in partnership with the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department. This year's performance line-up will heat up Thursday evenings in July in honor of one of the greatest Latin musicians of all time, Tito Puente, with two outdoor concerts at O' Day Park (next door to the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center) on July 13 and July 27, at 85 West Newton St., in Boston's South End. Concerts start at 7:00 p.m.

Admission to the performances is free. For more information about La Casa de La Cultura events call 617-927-1707, e-mail info@claboston.org, or visit www.claboston.org.

Tito Puente Latin Music Series '06 Schedule:

Thursday, July 13, Bernardo Hernandez with La Tradición at 7:00 p.m.

Venezuelan composer/arranger/performer and Berklee faculty member Bernardo Hernández – who has performed with luminaries such as Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez, Antonio Lauro, Soledad Bravo, Nancy Wilson, and Giovanni Hidalgo – will lead his own band, La Tradición. Hernandez is an accomplished guitarist, bassist, Cuatro player, and singer who has collaborated with numerous ensembles throughout New England, as well as, internationally. True to their name the group will perform traditional Latin rhythms the likes of Salsa, Cha Cha, and Latin Jazz.

Press: to inquire about photo availability and usage, please e-mail us. Bernardo Hernandez  Photo by Audrey Harrer

Thursday, July 27, Ernesto Diaz Afro Latin Project at 7:00 p.m.

Master percussionist and Berklee faculty member Ernesto Díaz, from Bogotá, Colombia, has been a mainstay in the Latin music scene of New England for almost 20 years. He has performed regionally, nationally, and internationally with diverse musical projects ranging from folkloric ensembles to Latin Jazz projects and with outstanding artists such as Dave Samuels, The Boston Pops, Celia Cruz, Orlando "Puntilla" Ríos, and Cahao. Díaz's Afro-Latin project is among

	Press: to inquire about photo availability and usage, please e-mail us.
	Ernesto Diaz
	Photo by Audrey Harrer

The series marks Berklee's second year concert collaboration with La Casa de la Cultura. Jim McCoy, Berklee's director for education and community partnerships states "It is a fantastic opportunity for the college to engage with the community of Villa Victoria, right down the street from us." However, this series has an even greater significance for the center. According to Alex Alvear, Performing Arts Director at La Casa de La Cultura, "O'Day Park was renovated through support from the Boston Parks Department to become one of the few parks in Boston with a performance space, which was essential to fulfilling the founder's dream of creating a place for Latinos to share their culture, and the collaboration with Berklee has opened up the pool of resources necessary to make that vision possible."

La Casa de la Cultura and Berklee College of Music have joined forces for several projects to bring music education programming to local youth, produce fundraising concerts for La Casa de la Cultura and secure equipment and computers for music programs.

About the Center for Latino Arts

A program of the dynamic community building agency Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion (IBA), La Casa de la Cultura/Center for Latino Arts (CLA) www.claboston.org is the only multi-functional arts complex in New England fully dedicated to the mission of promoting and preserving Latino arts. The CLA conveys the vitality of contemporary and traditional Latino cultural expressions through performances, exhibits and classes in a variety of art forms, including: Latin jazz, folk dance and music, poetry, theater and the visual arts. We fulfill our mission by providing high quality and affordable: Arts Education, particularly for at-risk youth in Villa Victoria; Advocacy, Coordination, Support and Incubation for Latino artists and arts organizations; Exhibition, Work, Rehearsal, Performance and Rental Space; and Opportunities for Cross-Cultural Collaboration between Latinos and the rest of the city's diverse populations. The CLA has a vision of the arts as life-affirming, community-centered and individually transformative—celebrating local traditions, while promoting the broad diversity of Latin American cultural expression

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over half a century, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing over 70 countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today — and tomorrow.

For editorial information or digital photos, the media may contact:

Mitzi Dorbu
Office of Public Information
(617) 747-2750
mdorbu@berklee.edu