CLEVELAND (WJW)– The Cleveland Orchestra is participating in a Hispanic Heritage Month event at the Julia De Burgos Art Center, named after the famous Puerto Rican poet.
Celebrando! will meld audio, performing and visual art into a beautiful symphony representing a diverse mix of Latin cultures in Cleveland.
“I feel like a lot of our artists express their experience being Latinx through art and I think it’s very important for everyone to learn about other people’s experiences,” said Nahomy Ortiz-Garcia, social media manager and assistant program coordinator at the Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center.
In the specially-curated concert, the orchestra will be joined by a guitarist and play a range of styles.
“There’s gonna be some more on the classical vein, but definitely inspired by Latino dance, song and then there are going to be more traditional things,” said violist Lisa Boyko.
The program holds special significance for bassist Scott Haigh, who lived in Mexico for a year and is Cuban through his mother.
“I was able to talk about myself and a little bit about the piece we were gonna play in English and then I would talk about it in Spanish,” he said. “I’ve toured with the orchestra to something like 47 countries around the world and once the music starts, the talking stops.”
Celebrando! is Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.