The Sheen Center to Host LATIN AMERICA SINGS!, 11/1

The Catholic Archdiocese of New York's new downtown cultural initiative, The Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, located at 18 Bleecker Street, continues its dynamic programming with a new series - LATIN AMERICA SINGS! - showcasing the music of Latin America. Audiences are invited to discover the rich diversity of countries that make up the region, beginning with LATIN AMERICA SINGS! Part I - The Songs of Astor Piazzolla on Sunday, November 1 at 3pm in the Loreto Theater.

Following the thrill of Pope Francis' visit to NYC in which the Sheen Center co-produced the pre-Papal Mass event at Madison Square Garden as part of their Grand Opening festival, Part 1 - The Songs of Astor Piazzolla launches with a celebration of Argentina - the home country of Pope Francis. Dedicated entirely to Piazzolla's music, who is known as ""the world's foremost composer of tango music," the concert will be directed and accompanied by world-renowned Piazzolla specialist Pablo Zinger, who will be joined by vocalists Gixelzanath, Leonardo Granados and Diana López. The program will include: Adiós Nonino, Balada para un loco, Jacinto Chiclana, Chiquilín de Bachín, Oblivion, Los pájaros perdidos and Oblivion, with lyrics by Horacio Ferrer, Jorge Luis Borges, and others.

The undisputed master and creator of Nuevo Tango, Astor Piazzolla was one of the foremost Latin American composers in the world. Piazzolla was admired by lovers of all genres for seamlessly blending emphatic tango rhythms with the syncopation of klezmer, jazz harmonies, Bach-style turns and great passion.

Curated by Pablo Zinger, future iterations of LATIN AMERICA SINGS! will pay tribute to the songs of the Latin American diaspora, including Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and other countries. The series continues on December 9 at 7pm with LATIN AMERICA SINGS! Part II - Canciones Mexicanas, a program dedicated to the powerful and immensely varied vocal music of Mexico.

Named after the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, best known for his popular radio and TV ministry in the 1950s and 60s, The Sheen Center is the newest arts center in Manhattan in 35 years, and will showcase works that affirm the highest values of the human spirit through the performing and visual arts, symposia, lectures and exhibits. The state-of-the-art complex has a 274-seat proscenium theater equipped with five-camera high-definition livestream capability and a multi-track recording studio with thirty-two onstage inputs; an 80-seat black box theater; four rehearsal studios; and an art gallery.

TICKETS to LATIN AMERICA SINGS! Part I - The Songs of Astor Piazzolla are $29. To purchase, visit http://sheencenter.org/events/music/ or call 212-925-2812.