GEMAS and Baryshnikov Arts Center to Present Ars Longa de la Habana, Cuba's Premier Early Music Group

Cuba's premier early music group, Ars Longa de la Habana, appears in a special co-presentation by Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF), Gotham Early Music Scene/Americas Society (GEMAS), and Baryshnikov Arts Center on Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. at Baryshnikov Arts Center. The 12 musicians of Ars Longa perform Tesoros de América, a program of villancicos and dances from the 17th and 18th century colonial Americas. The concert is part of the group's third US tour.

Founded in 1994 by soprano Teresa Paz and baroque guitarist Aland Lopez, Ars Longa de la Habana has performed all over Cuba as well as in many European and Latin American countries. Their repertoire focuses on 18th century music written by Cuban composer Esteban Salas and other composers of the Caribbean and Latin America region with many of their pieces reflecting the blending of African slave roots with Spanish influences in the New World-both secular and sacred. The group's music is lively and accessible, blurring the lines of performer and listener in an outburst of joy and celebration. Since 1995, the group has belonged to the Historian's Office of Havana City. Several of their fourteen CD releases have received international acclaim by such entities as Diapason, Le Monde de la Musique, Telerama and Classica.

Program Information

Tesoros de América: Baroque Music from Cuba and the New World
Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.
Baryshnikov Arts Center, Jerome Robbins Theater | 450 West 37th Street | New York, NY
Link: https://bacnyc.org/performances/performance/ars-longa-de-la-habana
Tickets: $25, available at www.bacnyc.org or by calling 866.811.4111.

Featuring:

Conjunto de Música Antigua Ars Longa de la Habana
Teresa Paz, soprano & director
Adalis Santiesteban, mezzo-soprano
Yunie Gaínza, alto
Rubiel Martín, tenor
Ahmed Gómez, baritone
Beatriz López, baroque violin & viola da gamba
Arianna Ochoa, baroque violin
Yulmara Vega, baroque oboe
Rodrigo López, baroque oboe
Melodie Michel, baroque bassoon
Aland López, baroque guitar

About Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF)

Since 2007, Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) has brought virtuosic chamber music performances of the highest caliber to every borough of NYC, cultivating new audiences for the genre and encouraging music lovers to look beyond Manhattan for outstanding performances. Lauded as "imaginative" by The New York Times, "enterprising" by The New Yorker, and "vital" by WQXR's Operavore blog, 5BMF's commitment to musical outreach and diverse programming has distinguished it as a standout presence in the New York City arts community from its earliest days.

5BMF's artist roster of over 250 individual performers and ensembles is comprised of talented emerging artists and distinguished musicians alike, representing an incredibly diverse range of musical genres and styles. Its venues are just as eclectic, and have included performing arts spaces, cultural centers, and historic New York City landmarks such as Federal Hall, Pregones Theater, Flushing Town Hall, King Manor Museum, Brooklyn Historical Society, the Alice Austen House, and the Staten Island Museum, to name merely a few.

As champions of new music, 5BMF has commissioned over 50 composers and presented world premieres of their works all across New York City, most notably the two borough-wide tours of its Five Borough Songbook Volumes I and II. 5BMF's outreach initiatives continue to expand every year, and have included program-related interactive lectures and discussions, public masterclasses with world renowned performing artists, and free public programming. Learn more at www.5bmf.org.

About GEMAS:

Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS) and Americas Society (AS)
The Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS) and Americas Society (AS) series was founded in 2012 as part of GEMS' milestone Fifth Anniversary celebrations, and is co-directed by the celebrated soprano Nell Snaidas and Americas Society Music Director Sebastián Zubieta.

In the beginning of the 2019-2020 season, GEMAS explored hymns from the 16th to the 19th century in Cuzco, Quechua, and Latin with the talented Spanish soprano Rocío de Frutos, joined by acclaimed Spanish harpist Manuel Vilas. Continuing this musical journey through Perú, Eybler Quartet in their New York debut, gave the U.S. premieres of Pedro Ximénez de Abrill Tirado's Quartet, Op.55, written in the 1820s in Arequipa. 2020 brings on more dynamic concerts with the early Baroque ensemble, Ars Longa de la Habana, exploring the lively vocal and instrumental repertoire of the Spanish Empire cathedrals of the Americas, during the reign of the Bourbon dynasty, with emphasis on the famous Cuban chapel master of the eighteenth century, Esteban Salas in their program Tesoros de América - Baroque Music from Cuba and the New World. Rounding off the Spring season will be The Rare Fruits Council, led by violinist Manfredo Kraemer, presenting a refined musical repertoire of Mexican and Peruvian cantatas and part-songs by two of the leading baroque composers, Manuel de Sumaya and José de Orejón y Aparicio.

The mission of GEMAS is to bring remarkable early music from the Americas and the best early music performers from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada to New York audiences. Since 2012, the series has presented lutenist Paul O'Dette, Ars Subtilior specialists Mala Punica, the Clarion Society, Meridionalis, and The Bishop's Band, among others, at Americas Society's own Salón Bolivar, The Hispanic Society of America, and Trinity Wall Street, as well as the Italian Academy and St Paul's Chapel at Columbia University. Spanish ensemble Musica Ficta released the recording of their New York debut concert at The Hispanic Society of America on the Euromusic label in 2015. Most recently, Americas Society's vocal ensemble Meridionalis and keyboardist Taka Kigawa, led by Sebastián Zubieta, released a new album on Naxos entitled Pablo Ortiz: Choral Works, highlighting recent works for voices by the Argentine composer Pablo Ortiz.

GEMAS is a collaboration of Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS) and Americas Society (AS). The concert series' mission is to present the finest early music repertoire and artists of the Americas.

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