Concert Week in Old Havana

American pianist and composer, Anthony de Mare, and guests will give a concert at the Minor Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi on Thursday, March 12th, with music by Serguei Rachmaninoff, Stephen Sondheim, Kenji Bunch, Tania León, Steve Reich, Fred Hersch, Andy Akiho, Frederic Rzewski, Meredith Monk, Henry Cowell, Luciano Berio, Toru Takemitsu, Nicolai Kapustin, Ricardo Lorenz and Anthony de Mare; while Havana’s Chamber Music Orchestra will be at the same concert hall on Saturday to play English music.

The Ignacio Cervantes Hall in Old Havana’s Wedding Palace will host a concert by the Music Forever Chamber Orchestra, conducted by maestro Guido López-Gavilán on Sunday, including pieces by J.S. Bach, Joaquín Rodrigo, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla and López-Gavilán himself.

After their triumphant performance in Salzburg, Austria, the Higher Institute for the Art Symphony, attached to Havana’s Mozarteum Lyceum, and Argentinian director, Jorge Rotter, are announcing a workshop and performances at Felipe Neri Oratorium from March 10 through 20, also in preparation for the 1st International Mozart-Havana Festival set for October 16-25.

On March 12th Paula Church is also hosting the concert Oboe Myths and Allegories by Chilean oboist, José Urquieta, a soloist with Chile’s Serena University Symphony, featuring music by Benjamin Britten, Akira Nishimura, Charles Koechlin and Latin American composers, Diego Sanchez Haase, Esteban Correa and Luis Saglie; meanwhile in the same venue on Saturday, March 14, the Old Music Ensemble Ars Longa, directed by maestra Teresa Paz, will present its second concert to commemorate the 290th birthday of Cuban musician, Esteban Salas y Castro (1725-1803).

Edited by Damian Donestevez