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Adult & University/College Audiences
Celebrating the Roots of Latin Rhythms
A dynamic and participatory workshop experience! This workshop invites the audience to explore the roots of Latin American music by combining performance, engaging lecture, and ample audience participation. Those who volunteer to come onstage learn first-hand how indigenous, African, and European cultures influenced Latin American music. The members of Sol y Canto also teach basic Latin dance rhythms including the Dominican merengue, the Caribbean salsa, and the Colombian cumbia.
View video highlights of a live workshop, click here.
Master Classes and Residencies
Residencies may involve a custom combination of the above plus master classes drawing from the expertise of Sol y Canto's, from Afro-Latin percussion workshops to composition and Latin dancing tutorials.
Sabor y Memoria: A Musical Feast in Seven Courses Workshops
Turning memories into melodies
Class limit: 20 • Duration: 2 – 3 hours
This workshop guides participants through the creative process of exploring how a memory can be triggered by a sensory stimulus such as a smell, a photo, or a favorite dish, and how we can express that connection in song. Students will be asked to bring a memory associated with such a stimulus. In the first part of the workshop, participants will write about their memories, guided by suggestions for writing devices that can make the text more adaptable to musical accompaniment. One or more of these creations will be used to illustrate different techniques and ideas for setting text to music. Sol y Canto musicians will create an accompaniment and the song will be recorded.
Healthy Latin cooking
Class limit: 20 • Duration: 3 - 4 hours, including dinner
In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to prepare a healthy meal with Latin flavors, including some of the following dishes:
- Chilaquiles
- Roasted tomatillo salsa or salsa fresca
- Chipotle aioli
- Chiles rellenos
- Plátanos maduros (ripe plantains) or tostones (fried green plantains)
- Yuca en mojo criollo
- Black bean and sweet potato burritos
- And Brian Amador’s famous arroz integral (brown rice) complete with musical recipe!
While things are cooking, we’ll do a little salsa dancing, and when everything is ready we’ll sit down to a delicious meal.
Tradition and Invention: Latin Roots of Sabor y Memoria
Class limit: flexible • Duration: 1 hour
Young Audiences
"El Doble de Amigos/Twice as Many Friends" — Sol y Canto's bilingual and interactive musical fiesta features toe-tapping plena, son, calypso, reggae and more! Featuring songs from their Parents' Choice award-winning children's CD of the same name, Twice as Many Friends/El doble deamigos concerts invite incessant singing and dancing with infectious, bebopping songs, sparkling vocal harmonies, and high energy sound. Created for grade school children and their parents, the music consists of original songs by musical director/composer Brian Amador and perennial favorites from Latin America and the U.S. Songs concentrate on early development experiences for families interested in their children acquiring Spanish as a second language, as well as for Latino families and bilingual families who wish to promote use of Spanish at home. Educational activity ideas for teachers and parents are available in Sol y Canto's CD booklet and a free bilingual educational guide is available at www.solycanto.com. Their national touring family show can incorporate a local children community choir in each community/city visited, and has been presented nationwide as a weekend matinee or early evening family program. Past presenters include the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Newport Folk Festival, among others.
During this high-energy singeable and danceable young audience concert, Sol y Canto members perform songs from our "El Doble de Amigos/Twice as Many Friends." Combining original compositions and traditional Latin American children's songs, the performance is an interactive bilingual adventure for children ages three to ten. Songs address topics from counting numbers to naming the days of the week, parts of the body, self-esteem, the environment, peace, flying kites, celebrating bilingualism and more. The album's title song is a lively Tex-Mex-style cumbia that makes the point that "twice as many friends, twice as much fun, that's why two languages are better than one!" A perennial hit, the Nicaraguan song BANANA (calypso), is an all-time Sol y Canto favorite complete with rap, and THE TRAIN PARTY (calypso-son) invites students to sing along bilingual and to join the parranda (party) as our house springs to life every time the train goes by. The Puerto Rican children's classic CHEQUI MORENA is a circle game song which Sol y Canto lead singer teaches the children - guaranteed to be a hit. "A VOLAR COMETAS/ Go Fly a Kite" and "Mi Cuerpo Hace Música/My Body Makes Music" invite children and their parents to stand up and dance while singing along in both English and Spanish, to learn all the different Latin American words for "kite", and how to name all the parts of the body in Spanish. A bilingual adaptation of the classic children’s song "UNDER ONE SKY" encourages singing along as well as making silly animal sounds. CASA PLANETA encourages all of us to be stewards of our "planet house" so it can be here for future children. BARQUITO DE PAPEL is a Cuban classic inviting us all to make friends across the seas and build peace in order to prevent wars. This show can be presented as a duo, a trio, or a sextet depending on the size of the audience and sound reinforcement capacity.
One Sheet |
EPK | Video
A Latin American Musical Journey
An interactive introduction to traditional songs and instruments from all over Latin America! Featured instruments include Spanish guitar, Caribbean pleneras (hand drums) and bongos, South American quena (bamboo flute), and an assortment of small percussion instruments. Students are invited to experiment with these instruments as they learn about their origins and individual histories. If the entire Sol y Canto quintet or sextet participates in the show, the instruments described above may be combined with congas, keyboard, accordion, saxophone, flute, and electric or acoustic bass. Length: 45-60 minutes.
Mexican Day of the Dead
A lighthearted and participatory adventure featuring songs from Sol y Canto’s Parents’ Choice Award-winning bilingual children’s CD, El Doble de Amigos/Twice as Many Friends, popular Mexican children’s songs and lively selections from Sol y Canto’s 2008 release, Cada Día un Regalo/Each Day a Gift, and songs celebrating the Mexican Day of the Dead. This performance combines humorous original compositions and traditional ever-popular Latin American children’s songs including: La Acamaya, a playful Mexican children’s song about a crawfish who might “get you,” Mi Cuerpo Hace Música/My Body Makes Music, inviting children and their parents to stand up and dance while singing along in both English and Spanish, ever-popular Puerto Rican circle game and song, Chequi Morena, and more. Length: 45-75 minutes.
Adult Concerts: Cada Dia un Regalo/Each Day a Gift
Sol y Canto adult concerts feature Rosi Amador's crystalline mezzo-soprano vocals, and the poetic songs of guitarist/musical director (and Rosi’s husband) Brian Amador, as well as intriguing acoustic arrangements of beloved classics and contemporary Latin American compositions. Rosi's voice has been described by The Boston Globe as "like clean spring water: it's smooth, it's clear, and somehow, you come to believe that it's necessary for life". The show highlights the repertoire of the group's latest recording, Cada día un regalo, a homage to love, life, death, and living fully in the present, woven into an eclectic musical collection that is quirky, lyrical, satirical and heartfelt.
Audiences enjoy original compositions about social justice and love—including a precious lullaby written for Rosi and Brian Amadors' twin daughters—with selections from their acclaimed Noche de Muertos program and hand-selected classics from Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Adult concerts are available in duo to sextet formats and are suitable for general audiences interested in dynamic, culturally rich music programming.
Sabor y Memoria
Brian Amador’s newest musical program is about a favorite topic- Latin food! Performed by Sol y Canto and string quartet Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Sabor y Memoria (Flavor and Memory) touches on issues of memory and nostalgia for one’s home country as well as immigration, agricultural sustainability, and hunger relief.
From the appetizer through dessert, the suite will combine and contrast Latin musical genres old and new in much the same way that flavors are blended in the cuisine of a new land. Rhythms hail from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela. The singers, the Latin rhythm section, and the orchestra dialog to celebrate the diversity of Latin cultures and the ways they affect each other and the dominant culture in the process of assimilating to a new life in the U.S.
Sabor y Memoria provides ample opportunity for community engagement with local restaurants, hunger relief organizations, and farmers markets. Everyone will want a taste!
View video of "Fast Fud", opening movement of the suite.
View VIDEO of B. Amador Presenting Work-in-Progress composition, "Chocolate"
Listen to a demo of "Alquimia", another song from the suite.
LISTEN to other Sol y Canto performances with orchestral instruments:
"La llorona" Trad., Mexico
(From Cada Día un Regalo": SyC and string quartet)
"Cuidado con los niños" by B. Amador (LIVE with string quartet)
"Obsesión" by Pedro Flores (P.Rico) (LIVE with string quartet)
"Hasta la luna" by B. Amador (LIVE with Symphony Orchestra)
"Sabor a mí" by A. Carrillo, Cuba (LIVE with string quartet)
Noche de Muertos (available for October/November)
A multimedia celebration of Mexico's Days (and Night) of the Dead! Sol y Canto joins Melodic Vision for an unforgettable multimedia program featuring Sol y Canto's live music with the rich sound of bowed string instruments by guest musician Rebecca
Strauss, compelling storytelling, and stunning projected imagery from Michoacán, Mexico by photographer Susan Wilson. Giant images of traditional dancing skeletons, marigold bouquets, bustling market places, and the faces of families in celebration
take you to the heart of traditional Mexico. Crafts and altars by community members and traditional Mexican Day of the Dead foods add to the richness of the program that unites communities in celebration and memory of all our ancestors.
Celebrated at the beginning of November, Día y Noche de Muertos (Day and Night of the Dead) is a heartfelt homage to our ancestors, reminding them that they are still part of the family and inviting them home. For ages 12 and up. Available for concert performances, museum showcases, and educational programs during October/November only.
“Bridging cultures through a wonder-filled program.” – Earl Lawrence Tucker, Director, Trinity Concerts, NYC
“…A treasure for the senses- an artful presentation that consummately weaves poetry, voice, music and visuals to animate history, culture and community spirit. It made my heart sing as I was enveloped in the ritual, the rhythms, and the color.“ – Libbie Shufro, President & CEO, Boston Center for the Arts
“It was incredible! Your voice and the photographs really transported me back to my childhood…With your voice and your husband’s lyrics, Sol y Canto were magnificent” – Mónica Orozco, Director, Mexican Cultural Center, Philadelphia, PA
“Magical!” – Susan L. Feibleman, Head of Upper School, Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY
One Sheet |
EPK |
Video
Prisma de Amores(orchestral suite)
In their first-ever commission of Latin music, the prestigious Boston-based Celebrity Series sponsored Sol y Canto's Brian Amador to compose a Latin-suite entitled Prisma de Amores (Prism of Love) for Sol y Canto and orchestra. The five-song suite features Cuban, Puerto Rican and Argentine rhythms. Orchestral colors, textures and effects are woven into traditional styles such as son, bolero, danzón, bomba and tango in a surprising and powerful meditation on the many facets of love. Sol y Canto tours the suite nationally with pops orchestras, chamber ensembles, and string quartets who share the goals of celebrating Latin culture and expanding their concert series to reach new audiences as well as the rapidly growing Latin music market. Available for symphonic concerts worldwide.
Live Performance Cuts -Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA
Cuidado con los niños
Nadie es de nadie
Family Concerts
Sol y Canto family concerts are completely interactive and highlight rhythms like calypso, reggae, plena, son, and more. Featuring songs from Sol y Canto’s Parents’ Choice Award-winning children’s album, "Twice as Many Friends/El doble de amigos", children and families are immersed in the joys of a bilingual musical experience, and your local children’s choir will get everyone involved!
Audiences enjoy a combination of original songs and renowned traditional Latin American children’s songs, including Twice as many Friends/El doble de amigos which celebrates bilingualism, A Volar Cometas/Go Fly a Kite which invites body motion and singing, and a bilingual adaptation of the ever-popular Under One Sky which gets the audience singing along in Spanish and English and culminates with an invitation to make fun animal sounds.
Suitable for general audiences interested in culturally-rich and family-friendly programming, families interested in having their children acquire Spanish as a second language, and Latino/bilingual families who wish to promote the use of Spanish at home. Available in duo to sextet and appropriate for ages 3 and up.
Click Here to Listen to NPR's feature of "Twice as Many Friends/El doble de amigos".
“After a full hour, when kids would usually de ready for other activities, Sol y Canto literally had them dancing in the aisles and on to of their seats…”
-The Boston Globe
“…An irresistibly sunny spirit…Expert musicians...”
