Toomai String Quintet: From Duke Ellington to La Lupe at National Opera Center, Scorca Hall

The Cuban Cultural Center of New York (CCCNY) is proud to present the internationally acclaimed Toomai String Quintet as part of Carnegie Hall’s United in Sound: America at 250 festival Saturday, June 13 at 7 pm at New York’s National Opera Center, Scorca Hall, 330 Seventh Avenue, NYC.

The Toomai Quintet is known for vibrant performances that blend musical traditions from around the world. They create highly interactive programs for audiences of all ages. Central to Toomai’s mission is championing Latin American repertoire for string ensemble for which they have arranged or commissioned over 30 works by Latin American composers.

For this special concert, Toomai explores the relationship between the American jazz and the Latin American diaspora, tracing the ways these traditions have intertwined and influenced each other. The program features Toomai’s original string quintet arrangements of music by--or popularized by--Duke Ellington, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Paquito D’Rivera, Milton Nascimento, La Lupe, and others. Multifaceted vocalist Jennifer Jade Ledesna joins this acclaimed ensemble for several songs!