Meeting at the Crossroads

Join us this Sunday at 4PM Eastern for a virtual concert to introduce our newest Programming Committee member, Toyin Spellman-Diaz and her husband Javier Diaz!  Hailing from New York City, Toyin and Javier are a musical power couple of the highest order making their mark on the world with powerful and innovative performances.  Their program explores the intersection of two pairs of influences on the music of Cuba: ancient meeting contemporary, and African culture meeting European.  

 Toyin is oboist and founding member of Imani Winds, a groundbreaking woodwind quintet that has championed innumerable contemporary works by composers from diverse backgrounds.  The Washington Posts lauds her "smooth, controlled tone and excellent technique," something that will be obvious the moment you hear her play!  Javier is a percussionist and educator with an extraordinarily broad range of talents, performing with major symphony orchestras and literally writing the book on Afro-Cuban percussion.

The performance will be live-streamed on our homepage (www.constellationsmusic.org) and Facebook page right at 4PM Eastern on Sunday, September 13.  Toyin and Javier will also be joining us for a live Q&A session and virtual reception immediately following the concert in Constellations' Zoom meeting room!  After the reception, the virtual concert will remain on our home page for 72 hours, and then will move to our online archives.

 Sunday's concert features the following works:

Afrá - Traditional Arará Music  

Ignacio Cervantes - No Me Toques el ojo Malo 

Manuel Saumell - La Caridad 

Canción #4 for bongo and electronics 

Javier Diaz - Chandani 

Songs for San Lazaro 

Javier Diaz - Serenata y Alegrias 

Mongo Santamaria - Afro Blue

Thank you to Hae-Soon Hahn & Steve Rosenbaum, the Chen Family, Debby Szajnberg, Dawn Wohn, Carolyn Lichtenstein, and Aron & Karen Primack for sponsoring this week's concert!  All donations for our virtual concert campaign go 100% to support our artists during the COVID-19 pandemic.  You can donate here or by texting "CONSTELLATIONS" to 44-321!