“Jeff Multer will be playing Sibelius in Havana this month,” writes John Fleming in Friday’s (5/3) Tampa Bay Times. “Multer, concertmaster of the Florida Orchestra, is going to Cuba on Tuesday as part of the orchestra’s ongoing cultural exchange with musical institutions on the island. On May 12, he will be featured as the soloist in Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba at the Teatro Nacional de Cuba. During his time in Cuba, Multer will also give violin master classes Wednesday at the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory and Thursday at the Universidad de las Artes. Next week is the second time around for the orchestra’s plan to have Multer perform in Havana. He was scheduled to go there in February, but the orchestra had to put off the trip because the Office of Foreign Asset Control, part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, was unable to process its application for a license to spend money in Cuba in time. Under the U.S. embargo on trade with Cuba, the OFAC license is necessary for travel to the island. … Multer’s visit to Cuba is the latest episode in an exchange that began in September 2011, when a wind quintet from the orchestra gave a concert in Havana.”
Posted May 3, 2013
