Miami, May 8, 2019 – On Saturday, May 25, Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Wolfson Campus will host the Miami Classical Guitar Society’s International Maestros and Laureates Series closing concert featuring Grammy Award-winner Paquito D’Rivera, renowned classical guitarist Berta Rojas and Carlos Molina, MDC professor and Miami Classical Guitar Society founder.
The winner of 14 Grammy Awards, D’Rivera is celebrated for his artistry in both Latin Jazz and classical music. Born in Havana Cuba, he began performing at age 10 and was a featured soloist and founding member of several ensembles, the National Symphony and Irakere, an explosive mix of jazz, rock, classical and traditional Cuban music, and the United Nation Orchestra, a 15-piece ensemble organized by Dizzy Gillespie to showcase the fusion of Latin and Caribbean influences with jazz. His highly acclaimed Chamber Jazz Ensemble, the Paquito D’Rivera Big Band and the Paquito D’Rivera Quintet are in great demand world-wide. An accomplished composer, D’Rivera was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition. La Universidad de Alcalá de Henares presented him with a special award recognizing his contribution to the arts. His recordings include more than 30 solo albums and he is the author of two books: My Sax Life and Oh, La Habana. He was the first artist to win Latin Grammys in both classical and Latin Jazz categories.
Rojas is among today’s foremost classical guitarists. She has been praised as “guitarist extraordinaire” by the Washington Post and “Ambassador of the classical guitar” by Classical Guitar Magazine. She has been nominated for Latin Grammy Awards for Best Instrumental Album, Best Classical Album, and Best Tango Album. Her recordings include Cielo Abierto, Terruño, a duo with Carlos Barbosa-Lima on Alma y Corazón, and the celebrated Barrios, featuring works by the great Paraguayan composer/ and guitarist. Together with Paquito D’Rivera, the duo has done a four-year tour “In the Footsteps of Mangoré” performing in 20 Latin American countries. On her latest recording, Felicidade, she pays tribute to Brazilian music, with guest artists including Gilberto Gil, Toquinho and Ivan Lins. She has a particular interest in promoting the music of her country, Paraguay, as well as Latin American music. She created the first online classical guitar competition, the Barrios World Wide Web Competition in 2009, and was the Artistic Director of the Ibero-American Guitar Festival at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. She also co-founded the young persons’ Beatty Music Scholarship Competition for Classical Guitar,
Born in Havana, Cuba, Molina founded the Cuban School of Guitar, one of the most distinguished instrumental schools worldwide. He began his performing career in 1969 after graduating with highest honors in Guitar Performance from the National Conservatory in Cuba, concurrent with a law degree at the University of Havana. With a performing career that expands 50 years, Prof. Molina has performed in prestigious halls around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Major Hall, Dvorak Hall of Prague, Ateneo of Madrid, Chopin Hall of Warsaw, Zeneakademia of Budapest, Hall of Mirrors at Palatial Palace in Bratislava, Salle du Conservatoire d’Orleans, Sala Carlos Chávez in Mexico, Teatro Amadeo Roldán in Cuba, among many others. In 1987, he founded the Miami Classical Guitar Society, which has featured many renowned national and international artists in the guitar world. He has been teaching classical guitar at MDC Kendall Campus since August 1983.
WHAT: International Maestros and Laureates Series Closing Concert featuring Paquito D’ Rivera, Berta Rojas and Carlos Molina
WHEN: Saturday, May 25, at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Wolfson Campus, Auditorium (Bldg. 1, 2nd floor)
300 N.E. Second Ave.
Tickets are $25, $35, $45 and can be purchased at www.miamiguitar.org. MDC students pay $10 at the door.
For more information, please contact Carlos Molina at carlosmmolina@bellsouth.net