Join modern Cuban charanga ensemble Raíces Negras in a program dedicated to the beloved Cuban music group Orquesta Aragón. To showcase this fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms and European classical instruments, Raíces Negras features popular songs from the danzón and cha-cha-cha craze of the 1940s and 1950s, including hits like “Almendra” and “Pare Cochero” by songwriter Richard “La Flauta Mágica” Egües.
This program is performed at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Rain site: East Building Auditorium
About Raíces Negras
Directed by flutist Dr. Ceylon Mitchell, Raíces Negras is a music collective celebrating Black and Latin voices across the Americas. Blending and bending traditional genres with improvisation, the group’s distinctive sound encompasses a full range of character—from the rich timbral colors of the modern Pierrot ensemble to the Afro-Brazilian swing of choros and complex rhythms of Cuban charanga, and everything in between!
Formed by Mitchell in 2019, the collective began as a local, grant-funded concert series of Afro-Latin music, and now consists of world-class musicians hailing from the United States, Venezuela, Brazil, Bulgaria, Haiti, and beyond.
Ceylon Mitchell, flute/leader
Sarah Taylor Cook, vocals/coro
Sheyda Do'a, vocals/coro
Michael Paxton, sax
Geraldo Marshall, trumpet
Christine Kharazian, violin
Sandy Choi, violin
Erin Murphy Snedecor, cello
Joshua Jenkins, piano
Chuco Mendoza, bass
Fran Vielma, percussion: congas
Dominique Patrick Noel, percussion: timbales
Bruno Lucini, percussion: drum set