The Minnesota Youth Symphonies Symphony Orchestra will take an eight-day, four-city tour of Cuba from June 19 to 26, 2017. Manny Laureano, the orchestra’s co-artistic director, will travel with MYS students to Cienfugos, Trinidad, Santa Clara, and Havana to perform three concerts and participate in four musical exchanges and workshops with local professional and student musicians. Cuban pianist Nachito Herrera will join the MYS as guest soloist. Laureano, who is also principal trumpet in the Minnesota Orchestra and participated in that group’s May 2015 visit to Cuba, says, “The opportunity to go to Havana with the Minnesota Orchestra was a more influential experience than I expected. Meeting their young musicians moved my heart.” Neeta Helms, president of Classical Movements, which is arranging the tour, says, “Manny Laureano was a huge hit in Cuba. His personality and fluent Spanish, combined with his obvious joy during the Minnesota Orchestra tour, did not go unnoticed by Cuban students, officials, and musicians. His youth orchestra, combined with Nachito, who is also well known and loved, is going to make this a very important and attractive event for the Cuban music-loving population.” For more information, visit mnyouthsymphonies.org.
Posted December 1, 2015
