March Is Music – 15th Anniversary

Monday, March 1, 7:30PM – SPOTLIGHT: DESMAR GUEVARA
Pianist Desmar Guevara, Pregones/PRTT’s longtime Resident Composer and Musical Director, favors new music idioms in Latin Jazz and experimental and non-traditional music for live theater performance. One of 5 Spotlight episodes celebrating MIM15.

Wednesday, March 3, 9:30PM – HOMEGROWN: HIPLIFE IN GHANA (Hip Hop)
Bronx Film Wednesdays travels to Africa in honor the of the 15^th anniversary of March Is Music with a special one-time screening of filmmaker Eli Jacobs Fantauzzi’s HomeGrown: HipLife in Ghana. A feature-length documentary about music group VIP (Vision In Progress), the film tracks ten years of their journey from the ghetto in Accra to their first international tour. They grow from being teenagers with a shared dream to musicians with fans around the world. Interview with the director by Sonyi Lopez of BronxNet. | Bronx Film Wednesdays

Saturday, March 6, 8PM – EL PUERTO RICO 3: IDENTITY DUETS (Contemporary Chamber)
The Victory Players Contemporary Music Ensemble, under the direction of Music Director Tianhui Ng, performs a virtual chamber concert featuring duets by six composers commissioned by MIFA Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts / Victory Theatre in Holyoke, MA, and produced in partnership with New England Public Media (NEPM). Now in its third year, the goal of MIFA’s El Puerto Rico is to acquaint audiences with the exciting work of living Puerto Rican composers, this year’s stellar roster includes Gabriel Bouche Caro, Carlos Carrillo, Johanny Navarro, Christian A. Quiñones, Iván Enrique Rodríguez, and Omar Surillo.

Sunday, March 7, 4PM – MIKHAILOFF PRIMAKOV DUO (Classical)
Oxana Mikhailoff and Vassily Primakov have known each other for 30 years. They spent formative years at the Moscow State Conservatory under the tutelage of the legendary Vera Gornostaeva. That experience formed an unbreakable bond between the two pianists, whose playing is hailed by critics, respectively, as “poetic and sensitive” and “exceptional, refined, multicolored.” For this MIM anniversary they perform works by Mozart, Liszt, and Strauss. | Bronx Piano Sundays

Monday, March 8, 7:30PM – SPOTLIGHT: CARLOS CUEVAS + WALDO CHÁVEZ
Pregones/PRTT collaborating pianist Carlos Cuevas and longtime ensemble musician and bass whiz Waldo Chávez have blazed trails in Latin music and share a passion for the work of live Latinx musical theater. One of 5 Spotlight episodes celebrating MIM15.

Saturday, March 13, 8PM – ALEX GARCÍA’s AFROMANTRA (Latin Jazz)
Led by Chilean-Cuban drummer/composer Alejandro “Alex” García, AfroMantra combines rich harmonies with the powerful rhythms and flavors of North and Latin America. With a contemporary outlook, the four-piece band skillfully balances original compositions that draw from Caribbean, South American, and North American traditions and influences. “Magisterial in its melodic and harmonic intent” (Latin Jazz Network). Lineup includes Carlos Chong on guitar, Álvaro Benavides on bass, and Coto Pincheira on keyboard.

Sunday, March 14, 4PM – SARA DAVIS BUECHNER (Classical)
Internationally acclaimed pianist Sara Davis Buechner returns to MIM with a masterful program titled ¡Danza! A Celebration of Hispanic Piano Music. The program features works by Mompou, Cervantes, Turina, Longas, and Buechner’s own New York Scrapbook with a section dedicated to The Bronx! Noted for her “intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess” (NY Times), Sara is undoubtedly one of today’s most original artists. | Bronx Piano Sundays

Monday, March 15, 7:30PM – SPOTLIGHT: ÁLVARO BENAVIDES + NICKY LABOY
Two stalwarts of Pregones/PRTT’s acting and music ensemble —bassist Álvaro Benavides and percussionist Nicky “Cajadura” Laboy— share from their dazzling careers on and off the stage. One of 5 Spotlight episodes celebrating MIM15.

Saturday, March 20, 8PM – YASSER TEJEDA + PALOTRÉ (Afro Dominican Fusion)
Yasser Tejeda & Palotré is a New York-based Dominican fusion group that is giving traditional folkloric music a new spin with jazz, rock, and Caribbean rhythms in “a frenzied celebration of ancestral union” (Billboard). “Palotré invigorates the bachata and merengue tradition with a post-Hendrix, post-Jaco, post-Bob Marley aesthetic that is positively brimming with hip ideas and an edgy electric quality” (Jazz Times).

Sunday, March 21, 4PM – MARGARITA ROVENSKAYA (Classical)
Pianist Margarita Rovenskaya grew up listening to classical composers in the kitchen, while her grandmother cooked, and started taking lessons at the age of six. She has performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad and is a prize winner of the prestigious Constantine the Great International Competition, WPTA Finland International Competition, and American Fine Arts Festival, among others. For her MIM debut, Rita will perform Antonín Dvořák’s thirteen-part Poetic Tone Pictures, the Czech composer’s longest and most elaborate piano cycle. | Bronx Piano Sundays

Monday, March 22, 7:30PM – SPOTLIGHT: ALVAN COLÓN LESPIER
March Is Music is the dream come true of Pregones/PRTT’s Associate Artistic Director and Chief Curator of music programs, Alvan Colón Lespier. A seasoned director of musical theater, he talks about his lifelong love of the stage, his creative relationship with all things musical, his initial vision for a world-class music series curated by Latinx artists and hosted annually in the South Bronx, and the series’ future yet! One of 5 Spotlight episodes celebrating MIM15.

Saturday, March 27, 8PM – HOMMY RAMOS’ TROMBEATZ (Latin Jazz)
Led by trombonist Hommy Ramos with percussionist Nelson Bello, Trombeatz is a dynamic and adventuresome ensemble whose debut album, A Caribbean Thing, was released to great acclaim by Truth Revolution. The group has performed in Puerto Rico and throughout the eastern U.S. and is known for its high energy and melodic skill. “At once soulful and sophisticated, [the band] reflects a deep understanding of the Latin Jazz tradition, while taking the music somewhere fresh” (Steve “Stevie-D” Davis).

Sunday, March 28, 4PM – MORIAH TRENK/ZHENNI LI DUO (Classical)
Moriah Trenk, praised for her “fluid and graceful style” (Villages News), is current Company Pianist at the prestigious Pennsylvania Ballet. Zhenni Li, hailed for her “torrents of voluptuous sound” (Gramophone Magazine), is a Steinway Artist and founder of both The Last Soirée and Fishin’ in C music series. Both are seasoned, traveled, and daring musicians whose coming together sets off sparks of technical prowess and sentiment. Their MIM program includes works by Debussy, Brahms, Barber, and Piazzolla. | Bronx Piano Sundays

Monday, March 29, 7:30PM – SPOTLIGHT: JESSICA MOYA + MILTON RUIZ
Pregones/PRTT’s Production Manager, Jessica Moya, and our Sound Engineer, Milton Ruiz, know the magic of March Is Music inside out and behind the scenes. They share from all they get to see and make technically exact. One of 5 Spotlight episodes celebrating MIM15.

MARCH IS MUSIC / Building on a commitment to present artists of the highest caliber in The Bronx, this multi-genre series showcases the range and vitality of today’s varied musical cultures. Curated by seasoned Latinx artists, series concerts and dialogues draw links between music, dance, and popular culture, highlight ruptures and continuities in form and content, and make room for intercultural fusion and exchange. Chief curators: Alvan Colón Lespier, Associate Artistic Director, and Desmar Guevara, Resident Composer and Musical Director.

BRONX PIANO SUNDAYS / During and beyond the month of March, this subseries shines a spotlight on one of Pregones/PRTT’s prized possessions: a Steinway & Sons grand piano acquired with support from donors and Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz, Jr. Stellar pianists are invited to perform works of all styles and eras on this magnificent concert hall instrument.

SPOTLIGHT: CREATIVES AT WORK / Inspiration and provocations from performing artists and media makers of color. Filmed primarily at Pregones Theater in The Bronx during the Covid-19 lockdown, the series features theater, music, dance, and film/media artists you ought to know. Each episode is a snappy 30-minute compendium of conversation and performance.

BRONX FILM WEDNESDAYS / Pregones/PRTT’s monthly film series screens new, little-seen, and standout indie films. Travel the world and open your mind to stories from as far as the imagination can go. Selections are hand-picked to illustrate cultural, aesthetic, and geographic diversity, each program includes winning films from our Bronx-based 21 Islands International Short Film Fest.

This program is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Southwest Airlines is the official airline of Pregones/PRTT. For a full list of our funders, visit www.pregonesprtt.org.