Latin musicians come together for week of concerts, instruction

BOSTON, Oct. 25, 2000 – Musicians from around the world will visit Berklee the week of Nov. 6 to celebrate the college's first-ever Latin Culture Week, a series of concerts and clinics showcasing the depth and diversity of Latin American musical expression. Organized by Berklee students and faculty, with support from the Mexican Consulate in Boston, the event will feature a variety of genres from jazz to funk to samba to indigenous folk.

Highlights of the week's festivities will include a reunion concert by the renowned Mexican jazz ensemble Sacbé, whose members have not performed together publicly since 1996; a master class in film scoring by Brazilian composer Claudio Ragazzi '84, who wrote the score for the acclaimed film "Next Stop Wonderland;" and a dual concert featuring Berklee faculty members Mili Bermejo '84 and Victor Mendoza.

All Latin Culture Week events are free and open to the public. A schedule of events follows.

Monday, Nov. 6
1 p.m. Saxophonist/composer Rodolfo "Popo" Sanchez will perform with a Berklee student band in the Lawrence and Alma Berk Recital Hall, Room 1A, 1140 Boylston St. Sanchez, originally from Uruapan, Mexico, has performed with artists such as Sarah Vaughan, Henry Mancini and Nat King Cole, in addition to leading many of his own successful ensembles in performances at the world's most prominent jazz festivals. Sanchez's visit has been has been sponsored by Universidad Veracruzana, as part of an ongoing educational exchange with Berklee. Sanchez has been director of the Orquesta de Música Popular at the Universidad Veracruzana for the past five years.

Tuesday, Nov. 7
1 p.m. Berklee's Concert Jazz Orchestra will perform arrangements by pianist /arranger Eugenio Toussaint in the David Friend Recital Hall, 921 Boylston St. Toussaint was a founding member of the Mexican jazz group Sacbé. He has worked as an arranger for Herb Alpert and Paul Anka, in addition to composing many jazz and classical pieces.

7:15 p.m. Sacbé will perform in the David Friend Recital Hall. The performance will be followed by the Latin Culture Week Inaugural Reception. Sacbé, featuring brothers Enrique (bass), Eugenio (piano) and Fernando (drums) Toussaint, has been the most influential jazz group in Mexico since its founding in the mid 1970s. This reunion concert will be the brothers' first performance together since 1996.

Wednesday, Nov. 8
1 p.m. Eugenio Toussaint will teach a piano clinic in Room F12, 22 The Fenway.

4 p.m. The Argentine folk group Los Changos will perform in the Lawrence and Alma Berk Recital Hall. Los Changos is a seven-piece ensemble featuring clarinet, accordion, flute, guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Some of the traditional rhythms the group plays include chacarera, zamba, milonga, candombe and tango.

7:15 p.m. Vocalists Katie Viqueira and Magos Herrera will present a "Vocal Summit" in the Lawrence and Alma Berk Recital Hall. Originally from Buenos Aires, Viqueira's style of contemporary tango has been praised for its "uncanny ability to synthesize seemingly disparate genres." Herrera is a singer/songwriter who successfully blends elements of jazz, soul and popular Latin music.

Thursday, Nov. 9
1 p.m. Composer/guitarist Claudio Ragazzi '84 will teach a master class in film scoring in Room 268, 150 Massachusetts Ave. For over 10 years, Ragazzi has been composing music for film, television, theater and ballet, including the acclaimed film "Next Stop Wonderland" and the PBS series NOVA, The American Experience, and Sesame Street. As a guitarist he has performed with Gary Burton, Joe Lovano, Paquito D'Rivera and Danilo Perez.

4 p.m. Pianist/composer Pablo Ablanedo '96 and his octet will perform in The Lawrence and Alma Berk Recital Hall, Room 1A, 1140 Boylston St. In addition to his work as a composer, Ablanedo, of Buenos Aires, has lead his group in performances at many of the East Coast's premier jazz venues.

7 p.m. The Mexican funk group Linea 3 will perform in The Lawrence and Alma Berk Recital Hall. Linea 3 features bassist Gabrel Gonzalez, guitarist Francesc Alcacer and drummer Edy Vega. Their debut CD "Subterraneo" was released in 1998.

8:15 p.m. Berklee faculty members Mili Bermejo and Victor Mendoza will present a dual concert in the Berklee Performance Center, 146 Massachusetts Ave. Bermejo is a professor in the Voice Department at Berklee, as well as an acclaimed performer and composer. Her vocal style incorporates her Mexican and Argentine roots, as well as improvisational jazz. Mendoza is one of the world's leading vibraphonists and an associate professor in Berklee's Percussion Department. His latest CD "Black Bean Blues" takes vibraphone performance to new heights while maintaining traditional Latin roots.

Latin Culture Week has been made possible with cooperation from Berklee's Performance, Writing, and Professional Education Divisions, the Office of the President, the College Diversity Committee, the Student Activities Center, the Association of Mexicans at Berklee, Colombianos at Berklee, Venezuelan Art Students in Boston and the Latin Student Society.

Founded in 1945, Berklee College of Music has been advancing careers in contemporary music for more than 50 years. The world's largest independent college of music, Berklee has a multi-cultural enrollment of more than 3,300 students, 40 percent of whom are international. The college's alumni include some of the most respected figures in contemporary music, including many multi-Grammy award winners.

For more information, please contact
Sarah Godcher
Publicist
Berklee College of Music
(617) 747-2658 or sgodcher@berklee.edu