Signature Series

Daymé Arocena Meets Berklee

Name: Daymé Arocena Meets Berklee
Start: 2022-02-10T20:00:00-05:00
End: 2022-02-10

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Thursday / February 10, 2022 / 8:00 p.m.

Berklee Performance Center

136 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston

02115

United States

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Daymé Arocena will perform a blend of traditional Santerían chant, jazz stylings, contemporary R&B influences, and Afro-Cuban music with Berklee students.

Referred to as Cuba's finest young female singer (The Guardian), Arocena has become the voice for a new generation of Cuban artists. She has been on NPR's list of 50 favorite albums, won the Juno award for best jazz album in 2015, and was introduced to the world stage through Gilles Peterson's Havana Cultura mix project.

Arocena will perform with a large student group of musicians, celebrating the music of Cuba with arrangements by student writers. The concert is produced by Oscar Stagnaro. Matthew Nicholl will be music director.

Program Information

Set List

Part 1. Cuban Panorama

1. Danza Medley arranged by Liz Sinn: "La Comparsa" (Ernesto Lecuona); "Y la Negra Bailaba" (Ernesto Lecuona); "Isora Club" (Enrique Chia)

2. Celia Cruz Medley arranged by Gabriel de Leon: "Bemba Colorá" (Horace Santos) featuring Pauli Camou Pérez; "Yerbero Moderno" (Oscar Muñoz Bouffartique) featuring Stephanie Acosta; "Quimbara" (Junior Cepeda) featuring Nicolle Horbath

3. "Xiomara/Irakere" (Evaristo Aparicio and Miguel Ruiz) arranged by Camila Cortina Bello featuring Rafael Moreno

4. "El Cuarto de Tula" (Sergio Siaba)

5. "Por Encima del Nivel" (Sandunguera and Juan Formell) featuring Kamoru

6. "La Sandungita" (Alain Perez and Grandelio Pérez) featuring Mateo Suarez Serna

Part 2. Berklee Meets Daymé

7. "Trilogía" (Daymé Arocena) arranged by Jorge Luis Lagarza and Daymé Arocena in collaboration with Rafael Aldama, Marcos Morales, and Jose Carlos Sanchez

8. "Maybe Tomorrow" (Daymé Arocena) arranged by Gaston Joya, Dexter Story, and Dayme Arocena; string arrangement by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson

9. "Para el Amor: Cantar!" (Daymé Arocena) arranged by Jorge Luis Lagarza and Dayme Arocena in collaboration with Rafael Aldama and Marcos Morales

10. "El Ruso" (Daymé Arocena) arranged by Daymé Arocena in collaboration with Yasek Manzano

11. "Mambo Na Ma" (Daymé Arocena) arranged by Dayme Arocena; horn arrangement by Emir Santacruz

12. "La Rumba Me Llamo Yo" (Daymé Arocena) arranged by Gastón Joya and Dayme Arocena; horn arrangement by Emir Santacruz

13. "Dançar e Voar" (Daymé Arocena) arranged by Alexandre Kassin and Daymé Arocena

Performers

Featured Artist

Daymé Arocena: Voice

Woodwinds and Brass

Juan Malagon, Paipa, Colombia: Flute

Brad Belmondo, Westfield, New York: Trumpet

Miguel Ortiz Rivera, Gurabo, Puerto Rico: Trumpet

David Silva, Bogotá, Colombia: Tenor Saxophone

Jason Ryu, Seoul, South Korea: Trombone

Tino Martin, Paris, France: Trombone

Thomas Hasselberger, Sandy Hook, Connecticut: Baritone Saxophone

Rhythm Section

Amaury Cabral Jorge, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Guitar

Estefania Núñez, La Habana, Cuba: Piano

Rafael Nocedo, La Habana, Cuba: Piano

Sebastien Ricard, Santa Barbara, California: Bass

Michael Doughty, North Andover, Massachusetts: Bass

Joe Tavarez, West Covina, California: Drums

Francis Peña, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Drums

Juan Sebastian S. Duque, Manizales, Colombia: Percussion

Sebastian Duque, Barranquilla, Colombia: Percussion

Strings

Finn Moore, Guilford, Connecticut: Violin

Helen Newell, Damariscotta, Maine: Violin

Theo Payen, Lille, France: Violin

Alyssa Barkjer, Manitowoc, Wisconsin: Violin

Connor Valcy, Acworth, Georgia: Viola

Danny Chouinard, Lafayette, Colorado: Cello

Voice

Stephanie Acosta, Bogotá, Colombia: Lead Vocals

Nicolle Horbath, Barranquilla, Colombia: Lead Vocals

Pauli Camou Pérez, Hermosillo, Mexico: Lead Vocals

Rafael Moreno, Boston, Massachusetts: Lead Vocals

Mateo Suarez Serna, Botogá, Colombia: Lead Vocals

Simon Yriberry Salazar, Boston, Massachusetts: Vocals

Joan Gonzalez, Botogá, Colombia: Vocals

Choir

Nicole Lopez, Barranquilla, Colombia: Choir

Daniela Gómez Munguía, Mexico City, Mexico: Choir

Mar Gimenez Marin, Zaragoza, Spain: Choir

Aitana Poey Rodriguez, La Havana, Cuba: Choir

Anna Alvarez, La Havana, Cuba: Choir

Moncho Salazar, Boston, Massachusetts: Choir

Production Team

Oscar Stagnaro: Executive Producer

Matthew Nicholl: Musical Director

Lee Abe: Vocal Director

Ella-Jane Sharpe: Production Assistant

Bri Joi: Production Assistant

Matthew Nicholl

Matthew Nicholl, dean of the Professional Writing and Music Technology Division, is a pianist, composer, and arranger. He holds degrees from the University of North Texas in music theory and piano. He joined the faculty of Berklee’s Harmony Department in 1996 and was chair of the Contemporary Writing and Production Department from 2002 to 2016. He has composed soundtracks for films, advertising, and numerous TV shows. Nicholl has also written several books about music and has released multiple albums of original music. With producer Oscar Stagnaro, he has served as musical director for Berklee Signature Series concerts with artists including Aida Cuevas, Toninho Horta, Joyce Moreno, Totó la Momposina, Susana Baca, Guinga, Alejandro Sanz, Luis Enrique, Ivan Lins, Jorge Drexler, Larry Harlow, Isaac Delgado, Eva Ayllon, and Rosa Passos.

Oscar Stagnaro

Oscar Stagnaro has been a professor at Berklee College of Music since 1987. A pillar of Berklee’s effort to diversify and expand the range of its studies, Stagnaro established the college’s Latin bass curriculum and was appointed academic director of Berklee Latino, the college’s most ambitious bilingual international outreach program. Berklee Latino offers an incomparable experience to explore the roots and branches of Latin music, focusing on composition, interpretation, and production. The inaugural program was held in Mexico City, with a program in Colombia on the near horizon. He is also chief advisor for the college’s Latin studies program and is a cofounder of Berklee’s Association of Latin Faculty.

Tsunenori “Lee” Abe

Tsunenori “Lee” Abe is an associate professor in Berklee’s Contemporary Writing and Production Department. An active composer, arranger, performer, and producer, Abe, a native of Chiba, Japan, has written music for solo piano, pop-rock bands, big bands, and world-class orchestras such as the Boston Pops. A winner of the S&R Washington Award as a composer, he is versatile in many genres, but his name is especially well known in the vocal jazz world. Many of his works—which have been praised by Keith Lockhart (the Boston Pops), Cheryl Bentyne (the Manhattan Transfer), Joyce Moreno, Toninho Horta, and others—are currently published through Yamaha Music Media and UNC Jazz Press, and are being performed across the globe. In addition to composing and performing, Abe is a respected educator who teaches master classes in arranging, producing, and vocal-group singing.

About the Artist

Daymé Arocena draws inspiration from the intertwining musical legacies of her native Cuba. A singer, composer, and choir director, she’s a bright-shining performer carrying the flame for a new generation of Cuban musicians. Approaching jazz, soul, and classical influences with an innate sense of rhythm, she released her second album, Cubafonía, in early 2017. With Cuba’s rich musical traditions serving as the album’s springboard, she uses a range of musical styles from her home country as the basis for each of Cubafonía’s tracks, which she builds on with influences she encountered while touring the world.