Located at the Venezuelan Consulate, 7 E 51st St, a short walk from the Hilton. Six 30 min showcases and one complete show. Besides being conveniently located near the Hilton The Venezuelan Consulate offers a gallery of Venezuelan art and is located across the street from the world famous St. Patrick's Cathedral. Please check "Upcoming Shows" on the right for showtimes.
Violinist/Trombonist Eddie Venegas was born in Caracas, Venezuela and studied with Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet at The Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College where he obtained his Bachelors and Masters in Performance of Classical Violin. Venegas is also a self-taught trombonist and very active on both instruments in the NYC freelance jazz, classical, and Latin music scenes. He has worked with such renowned artists as John Fadis, Joe Zawinul, Tito Puente, Mark Antony, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dani Rojo and Johnny Pacheco, among others and has appeared as a soloist with numerous groups including The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Hudson Jazz Ensemble, Saint Martins of Tours Symphony Orchestra, the Carpentier Quartet and the Queens Philharmonic. Venegas plays regularly with The Harrisburg Symphony, La Orquesta Broadway, the Sphinx Symphony and En Talla, and his original compositions can be heard among the Sweet Plantain and The 3 Sad Cats Jazz Ensemble regular repertoire. Venegas can additionally be seen in the Jennifer Lopez/Marc Antony movie, El Cantante.
Violinist Romulo Benavides studied with the late Emil Friedman in his native Venezuela and obtained his Bachelors from The Juilliard School. As Concertmaster of Arcos Juveniles de Caracas, he performed as soloist in the United States, Spain, Dominican Republic and throughout Venezuela, and in 1985, he won 1st Prize at the Juan Bautista Plaza Violin Competition in Caracas. He went on to perform as soloist with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Carabobo Chamber Orchestra and the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra. In NYC he has performed with the Carpentier Quartet, Ensemble America, Frank Valiente Tango Quintet, and with Mauricio Najt and Alberto Quiroga. Benavides performs as the first violinist of the Dali Quartet and is Concertmaster and featured soloist of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded for New World Records and performed in master classes for Itzhak Perlman at Brooklyn College and for Peter Winograd at The Aspen Music School.
Violist Orlando Wells, a NJ native, studied at LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and graduated with Behrens Foundation and B’nai Brith scholarships. He then went on to S.U.N.Y. Purchase and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers. Wells has held the concertmaster chair with Orchestra of the Bronx and the Bronx Opera and has appeared as a soloist with Antara, the Manhattan Virtuosi and the St. Peter by the Sea Orchestra. He also performs with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, SONYC Chamber Orchestra, Ritz Chamber Players, Quartet Evolution, Sweet Plantain, Radio City Christmas Show Orchestra and on Broadway with Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Spamalot and Wicked. He has collaborated with such greats as John Legend, Mariah Carrey, Rihanna, Kanye West, Marvin Hamlish, the Akua Dixon Swing Quartet, Sojourner Strings, and Dionne Warwick.
Cellist David Gotay, born in the Bronx, has performed in such notable venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and the White House. He has played on television in PBS’ Sessions at 54th Street, on the QVC Network and in the nationally-broadcast Hurricane Katrina Benefit with Sheryl Crow. He has collaborated with such artists as Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin, k.d. lang, David Sanborn, Little Jimmy Scott, John Blake Jr., and Mannheim Steamroller. Mr. Gotay is a rapper and electric cellist of the experimental hip-hop/classical group Sound Liberation, whose debut album is released on the Col Legno label in Germany. He regularly performs with the Harrisburg Symphony, Key West Symphony, and the Sphinx Symphony in Detroit. Among his numerous awards are included: Chamber Music America’s Residency Partnership Program Grant; Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks Visiting Professorship, University of Michigan; Meet The Composer Met Life Creative Connections grant, Harlem School of the Arts Certificate of Appreciation; and Chamber Music Live Award, Queens College.
Nobody bridges the gap between generations or musical genres like SWEET PLANTAIN, a refreshingly new string quartet. Artfully fusing the western classical traditions in which they were trained with the hip hop, jazz improv, and Latin rhythms on which they were raised, their original writing and live shows educate and entertain. Separately hailing from the South Bronx, New Jersey and Venezuela, together these musicians give voice to a sound that is contemporary, multicultural and very New York.
The group's mission is to give voice to a contemporary, urban, Latino sound, and so much of the group's repertoire is rooted in improvisation. The art of improvisation, once an integral part of western classical music, has all but been abandoned in the training and performance of classical artists, although it continues to occupy an important role in nearly every other musical genre. Sweet Plantain therefore works to weave the possibilities of improvisation into classical music by arranging existing pieces and writing original compositions that contain improvised sections. The group also makes use of extended percussive techniques, some of them original creations, to best achieve and showcase the rhythmic vitality characteristic of Latin music.
Highlights of their 2009-2010 seasons include collaborations with renowned cellist Borislav Strulev in a tour of Russia that will include a performance in Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. European engagements with virtuoso pianist, composer, Matt Herskowitz who was featured on the Grammy nominated album The Swing of Christmas by Barry Manilow and whose playing can be heard on the acclaimed Grammy nominated film The Triplets of Belleville. And numerous performances in North America including Northeastern University, The University of Maryland, The Reston Center in Reston VA, The Craver Center in San Antonio TX, The 92nd Street Y Tribecca, and the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley Idaho.
Past musical projects include: recorded with renowned composer Ryuichi Sakamoto on his score for the major motion picture, Silk (starring Keira Knightly and Alfred Molina), and on the debut album of Sakamoto-produced Kotoringo, a pop/jazz, singer-songwriter on the rise in Japan. Sweet Plantain collaborated with celebrated dance choreographer, Bill T. Jones, and the Afro beat vanguards, Antibalas, to present a workshop for the genesis of the Broadway musical, Fela! Sweet Plantain also had the privilege of presenting a concert in collaboration with Composers Concordance, debuting nine world premieres from such notable composers as Margaret Brouwer, Daron Hagen, Andy Brick, and Gene Pritsker. 2008 included performances as featured artists at The Columbia Festival of the Arts (Columbia, MD), The Endless Mountain Music Festival (Wellsboro, PA), Utah State University, The Newburgh Jazz Series and The Harrisburg Symphony Stroll, (Harrisburg, PA) as well as regular performances in venues throughout NYC including Joe's Pub, Drom, The Brooklyn Library and The Harlem Stage.
The group's special commitment to the musical education of NYC youth has additionally found Sweet Plantain designing and running a new string program at the St. Ignatius School in the South Bronx, a neighborhood with one of the highest poverty rates in all of the United States. Also, in partnership with the legendary Tony Bennett's nonprofit organization, Exploring the Arts, Sweet Plantain has been hosting public high school music student interns, or "apprentices," who regularly rehearse with the group and perform alongside the quartet at the end of each semester. Continuing its education work, the quartet performed their original music in the Chocolate Chip Chamber Music series, an engaging and interactive mini-concert for children (age range toddlers to 6 years-old) in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
I want to personally take this time to say thanks to all of my listeners. I'm gonna make good music for YOU guys. I appreciate your support, and I'll make you all proud.
"Music is the most romantic of all the arts, we could almost say that it's the only romantic because the infinite is its only theme" (E.T.A. Hoffmann) Viva la Musica! ..
You guys are AMAZING! Love what you are doing. Please let us know when you will be in California. We would love to hear you live. Thanks very much for visiting us and for the add. Continued success! Your new friends, Nova, Susanna, and Shinobu ~Bella Sorella~ www. BellaSorella. net
I added a sample of my STRING QUARTET NO. 2 (THE GATHERING) performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet on the attached flash audio player (also located further down my MySpace page or at www. reverbnation. com/christoshatzis) and I would like to invite you to listen to it. A sample of my STRING QUARTET NO. 1 (THE AWAKENING) is still available on the original MySpace audio player. Thank you for the friendship and...
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