CHICAGO (March 8, 2023) – The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC) announced today the March concerts for their year-round Chicago Latino Music Series.
The ILCC, in co-production with the Instituto Cervantes as part of the Spanish institution’s annual Flamenco Festival, will present two extraordinary award-winning and critically acclaimed guitarists: Rafael Riqueni (Wednesday, March 15) and Antonio Rey (Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18). From Spain, the series travels to Cuba for the Chicago debut of pianist Jorge Luis Pacheco and his trio at Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave. on Saturday, March 25. Full descriptions below.
For more information, visit latinoculturalcenter.org.
CHICAGO LATINO MUSIC SERIES MARCH 2023 CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15 AT 7:00 PM
Rafael Riqueni
Co-produced with the Instituto Cervantes
Where: Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio St.., Chicago
Admission: $35, general public; $30 members of the Instituto Cervantes of Chicago. ILCC members must call the Instituto ahead of time to receive the discount on their tickets. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite.
Flamenco guitar player and composer Rafael Riqueni is considered one of the biggest names in flamenco. His music takes flamenco as a basis and adds classical music influences among other contemporary styles, highlighting the power and grace of the genre. He has won the most prestigious flamenco music awards in Spain, including “XXXI Compas del Cante”, considered by the Spanish media as the Nobel Prize of Flamenco. On his 2017 album Parque de María Luisa, Riqueni treaded the ancient paths of solo flamenco guitar, a journey he continued on his most recent album, 2020’s Herencia, which showcases the influence earlier maestros had on his music. Herencia was nominated for the 2021 Latin Grammy Award for best flamenco album.
FRIDAY, MARCH 17 AND SATURDAY, MARCH 18 AT 7:00 PM
Antonio Rey
Co-produced with the Instituto Cervantes
Where: Instituto Cervantes, 4048 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago
Admission: $35, general public; $30 members of the Instituto Cervantes of Chicago. ILCC members must call the Instituto ahead of time to receive the discount on their tickets. Tickets cam be purchased through Eventbrite.
Antonio Rey Navas began his artistic career at the age of ten when he accompanied his father Tony Rey in various tablaos (flamenco venues) in Mexico. A few years later, he made his first tour of Japan with the dancer Yoko Komatsubara. At eighteen years of age, he worked in the company of Antonio Canales and later composed the music for Gallo de pelea for the Nuevo Ballet Español (New Spanish Ballet). In 2003, he won first prize accompanying singers at the Festival de Cantes de Mina de La Unión competition in Murcia. In 2010, he won first prize in the Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba (National Competition of the Art of Flamenco of Córdoba). His first album was produced by Gerardo Núñez and is entitled A través de ti. On his second album Colores de Fuego, he collaborated with Estrella Morente, Vicente Amigo and Josemi Carmona, among others. Rey’s album Flamenco sin fronteras won the 2020 Latin Grammy for Best Flamenco Album.
SATURDAY, MARCH 25 AT 8:00 PM
Jorge Luis Pacheco and His Trio
Where: Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave.
Admission: $25, general public; 18 and up unless accompanied by a parent
For more info: https://latinoculturalcenter.org/event/jorge-luis-pacheco
Hailing from Havana, Cuba, Jorge Luis Pacheco is a fiery young pianist with, as described by Cuban jazz multi instrumentalist Bobby Carcassés, “flying hands.” His music is a confluence of Cuban and Afro Cuban music, American jazz, and classical music with a measure of contemporary pop and soul. He has performed all over the world including prominent jazz clubs such as Dizzy’s Jazz at Lincoln Center and festivals such as the Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York as well as the Sziget Festival in the City of Budapest. He has collaborated with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Arturo
O’ Farrill and the Legendary Lenny White and with some of the most important Cuban artists such as Isaac Delgado, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Pablo Milanes and Descemer Bueno. Pacheco is a passionate, extravagant, exciting entertainer on stage and constantly captures the audience’s attention with his heartfelt performances and electric energy.
ABOUT THE ILCC
The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago is a Pan-Latino, nonprofit, multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to developing, promoting, and increasing awareness of Latino cultures among Latinos and other communities by presenting a wide variety of art forms and education including film, music, dance, visual arts, comedy, theater and culinary arts.
The Center prides itself for its outstanding multidisciplinary local and international cultural programming which spans Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.
Born out of the Chicago Latino Film Festival, The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago also produces other programs, including the Chicago Latino Music Series (formerly known as the Latino Music Festival), which is celebrating its 17th edition this year; Film in the Parks, also in its 17th season; the monthly Reel Film Club, already in its 15th year; and many others. All in all, the audience has grown from 500 people in 1985 for the first Chicago Latino Film Festival to more than 70,000 (Latinos and non-Latinos) who enjoy the year-round multidisciplinary cross-cultural exchanges offered by the Center.
