2015 Summer Concert Series

30th Season!

ARTURO O’FARRILL AND THE AFRO LATIN OCTET*

Thursday, August 13, 2015, at 8:00 p.m.

Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ

Arturo O’Farrill—pianist, composer, educator, and founder and Artistic Director of the nonprofit Afro Latin Jazz Alliance—was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. In 2002, Mr. O’Farrill created the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) for Jazz at Lincoln Center due in part to a large and very demanding body of substantial music in the genre of Latin and Afro Cuban Jazz that deserves to be much more widely appreciated and experienced by the general jazz audience. His debut album with the Orchestra, Una Noche Inolvidable, earned a GRAMMY Award nomination in 2006 and the Orchestra’s second album, Song for Chico, earned a GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2009. In February 2011, Mr. O’Farrill and the ALJO released their third and newest album, 40 Acres and a Burro, which was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Arturo’s The Offense of the Drumwon the 2015 GRAMMY for Best Latin Jazz Album.

Educated at the Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory (from which he received the Distinguished Alumnus Medal), and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, Mr. O’Farrill has since performed throughout the world both as a solo artist and with his smaller groups.

As an educator, he has taught master classes, seminars, and workshops throughout the world for students and teachers of all levels. As a recognized composer, Mr. O’Farrill has received commissions from Meet the Composer, The Big Apple Circus, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Philadelphia Music Project, Symphony Space, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. He has also composed music for films including Hollywoodland and Salud.

Arturo O’Farrill closes the Community Arts Program (CAP) 2015 Summer Concert Series with his high-energy Afro Latin Octet. Be prepared for a combination of piano, trumpet, sax, bass, drums and percussion that will move concertgoers, literally, through an exhilarating and unforgettable evening!

*Arturo O’Farrill will also conduct a 10:00 a.m., Friday, August 14master class open to allat Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ.

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