PIAZZOLLA 100: Cuartetango Music & Dance Performs Under Manhattan's Spectacular Skyline

Leonardo Suarez Paz presents PIAZZOLLA 100: Cuartetango Music & Dance on September 18, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, NY.

This theatrical chamber concert will feature a string quartet Cuartetango, comprised of two violins, a viola and a cello, in addition to the musical instrument, the bandoneon, and dancers. A Q&A with the artists will follow the performance. The event is FREE for the public, but registration is requested by clicking here.

Led by Artistic Director Leonardo Suarez Paz, Cuartetango is one of the only quartets of its kind to perform Nuevo Tango, a musical style that infuses elements of Jazz and Classical music with traditional Tango music, using western classical instruments.

"Cuartetango will offer attendees the unique experience to hear Nuevo Tango, a style that may sound familiar to many but in a new way," said Mr. Suarez Paz. "Nuevo Tango was created in New York City and I am very excited to present this music at the Four Freedoms Park underneath the beautiful backdrop of the city Nuevo Tango calls home."

The production features songs from Cuartetango's two-time Latin Grammy nominated album Masters of Bandoneon, including "Escualo," "Milonga De Mis Amores," "Adios Nonino," "El Tiempo Y Vos" and "Stringazo." The quartet has been featured in a PBS On Canvas special named Cuartetango Music & Dance at Stockton Performing Arts Center, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art and the Latin Grammy awards.

The program is part of PIAZZOLLA 100, a multidisciplinary art project directed by Leonardo and Olga Suarez Paz that's goal is to elevate Nuevo Tango as a contemporary artform across all disciplines. Leonardo Suarez Paz's ensemble was featured at the park in 2021 and will perform under the spectacular Manhattan skyline for a second time.

Performers include director, violinist, vocalist and dancer Leonardo Suarez Paz; violinist Omar Falcon; violaist Ron Lawrence; cellist Danny Miller; bandoneonist Rodolfo Zanetti; and dancers Olga Suarez Paz, Carolina Jaurena and Juan de Argentina.

The event is on Sunday, September 18, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. within "The Room" at 1 FDR Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island, NY. Please plan your visit to FDR Four Freedoms Park here. Free registration is required.

Support for this program is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Dance/NYC and individual donations through our fiscal sponsor, New York Foundation for the Arts.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park is located on Roosevelt Island in New York City. The park, designed by architect Louis I. Kahn, is free to the public. Its name derives from a January 6, 1941 speech delivered by President Roosevelt, in which he described his vision for a world founded on four essential human freedoms: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from fear.

Leonardo Suarez Paz has been hailed as the "torchbearer of Argentine Tango and the legacy of its greatest composer, Astor Piazzolla" (All About Jazz, UK). He creates across cultures and genres, continuing a family legacy of over 100 years, beginning with the Afro-Argentine poet Gabino Ezeiza to violinist Fernando Suarez Paz who was instrumental in creating Nuevo Tango alongside Astor Piazzolla, the Argentine born, and New York raised composer and was a mentor to Leonardo. At age 16 Leonardo became the youngest member of the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colon. His work as a soloist includes the most distinguished tango orchestras such as those of Mariano Mores, Horacio Salgan, Atilio Stampone, Osvaldo Berlingieri and the shows Tangox2, Perfumes de Tango and Mariano Mores Show where he was featured as a dancer and violinist. He was the soloist in both Broadway tango shows Forever Tango and Tango Argentino, a soloist with Patience Higgins, Jim Hall, Kenny Drew Jr., Steve Kuhn, Savion Glover, Julio Bocca's Ballet Argentino, New York City Opera and many others.

PIAZOLLA 100 is a multidisciplinary performing arts project directed by Leonardo and Olga Suarez Paz, that intertwines Tango, Jazz and Classical Music forming a new musical style. The project is named after Suarez Paz's mentor, Astor Piazzolla, the Argentine born, and New York Raised composer who revolutionized 21st century music.