Tag Archives: City

THIRD ANNUAL ARTS AND CULTURAL NETWORKING CELEBRATION

November 1, 2009Corrientesactress, Arts and Cultural Affairs Committee, Chair, Chair of Community Board Eleven, Cicely Tyson, City, de la Vega, East 106th Street, ecletic group, Fernando Salicrup, festival site, Gloria DeNard, government agency, Harlem artist, James de la Vega, Jazz singer, Julia de Burgos Latino, Lino Rios, Manhattan Community Board Eleven, Manhattan Community Board Eleven's Cultural Committee, Museo del Barrio, New York, Taina Traverso, Various, www.cb11m.orgVirtualBoricua

Honoring Diversity in the Arts Community

On August 19, 2006, Manhattan Community Board Eleven, East Harlem’s primary public and civic institution, is bringing together an ecletic group of artists from all nationalities for its third annual Arts and Cultural Networking Celebration. This event will take place at East 106th Street between Lexington to Second Avenues, from 12:00 – 6:30PM. This free event brings together established artists and cultural institutions from all parts of the neighborhood. These organizations are but not limited to the Museum of the City of New York, Taller Boricua, El Museo Del Barrio, PR Dreams, the National Black Theater and other cultural insitutions from this diverse City.

The event will be centrally located in the hub of culture and art in East Harlem. Various artists from art and the entertainment world have lived in our neighborhood. Artists like James De La Vega, whose works can be seen on the streets of East Harlem. Jazz singer Gloria DeNard, who still teaches here in East Harlem through Manna House. The former residence of actress Cicely Tyson is a few blocks away from the festival site. Finally, visitors can walk along the Tito Puente way and marvel at the surroundings where this legend lived or visit the wonderful art at Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center.

“We believe that East Harlem is the perfect venue for a multicultural arts celebration. This event serves as a tool to expose city residents to the different cultures of the world,” states Lino Rios, Chair of Community Board Eleven.

The festivities are being organized by Manhattan Community Board Eleven’s Cultural Committee. “Art intertwines every aspect of life and sustains social solidarity; thus, on this day East Harlem honors and celebrates the diversity of the art community and the pioneers of civilzation,” states Taina Traverso, Chair of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Committee. “East Harlem/El Barrio has always been a cradle for artists to expand their talents, be it what ever form they are working with, from music to dance to visual,” states a long-time Spanish Harlem artist Fernando Salicrup.

Manhattan Community Board Eleven is a New York City government agency that plans and advocates for the needs of East Harlem/Spanish Harlem. For more information, log onto www.cb11m.org.

PRDream mourns the passing of Little Ray Romero

November 1, 2009CorrientesAngel Rodriguez, Boyï¿½s & Girls Harbor Conservatory, Brooklyn, Chano Pozo, City, Cortijo y su Combo, Dean Martin, Drummer, Eartha Kitt, Eddie Palmieri, Elaine Romero, elementary school, Florida, Frankie Dante, good musician, Irma Rosen, Isabel Santiago, Jimmy Delgado, Joe Locco, Johnny Colon Music School, Jose Curbelo, Jr., Little Ray, Little Ray Romero, Lucia Romero, Miguelito Valdes, New York, Noro Morales, Orchesta Flamboyan, Ortiz Funeral Home, Ponce, Puerto Rico, Rafael Cortijo, Ray Baretto, Ray Barretto, Ray Romero, Rene Lopez, Ruth Fernandez, Sammy Davis, Stephanie Soffi, The Other Road, Tito Rodrï¿½guez, United States Army, Xavier Cugat Ochestraescalona

Little Ray Romero:
Master Rumbero
June 18, 1923 – August 16, 2006

A percussionists’ percussionist, this master rumbero lived a life of music spanning more than six decades. Born Hernan Romero in Ponce, Puerto Rico on June 18, 1923, Little Ray played with legendary bandleaders and musicians in both the Latin music and American music scene. His percussion solos have become standard rhythmic patterns for young percussionists today. Little Ray passed away peacefully in Florida surrounded by his family on Wednesday, August 16, 2006 at 10 p.m.

Kicking off his career in the late 30s with Puerto Rico’s leading songstress, Ruth Fernandez, Little Ray began playing bongos before picking up the congas. His conga playing was influenced by Chano Pozo whom he met while Chano was performing with Dizzy Gillespie. During the 40s, Little Ray performed with the legendary Xavier Cugat Ochestra before joining the U.S. Army. After his army tour, he played with Noro Morales, Joe Locco, Jose Curbelo, and Miguelito Valdes. By the 50s, he was performing in Puerto Rico and composed part of the percussion section for Cortijo y su Combo when the great Puerto Rican percussionist Rafael Cortijo organized his first band in the early ‘50s.

He went on to become an essential part of the legendary percussion section organized and fronted by Tito Rodríguez. However, he was noticed by Eartha Kitt and recruited to play with her orchestra from 1952 to 1956.

Little Ray Romero went on to back up Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dean Martin. By the late 60s and early 70s, Little Ray could be heard with the orchestras of Eddie Palmieri (on the Live in Sing Sing recording), Frankie Dante and Orchesta Flamboyan, Ray Baretto (on the Lps: Indestructible, Guarare, The Other Road, & Baretto Live Tomorrow where he plays the bata drums), and Machito just to name a few.

The 80s saw Little Ray give back to the younger generation through education. He taught at the Drummer’s Collective, the Johnny Colon Music School and Boy’s & Girls Harbor Conservatory for the performing Arts.

An exemplary family man, a good musician and a great percussionist are the three things Little Ray Romero embraced in his long road through life.

He was the recipient of the first Living Legends tribute at The Point CDC in the Bronx under the direction of Angel Rodriguez in New York in 1997. On Thursday, October 2nd, 2003 the community in East Harlem that saw Little Ray grow up honored him with a tribute at the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center that was formerly P.S. 107 where Ray went to elementary school. Ray Barretto, Rene Lopez, Jimmy Delgado and many others were present. Little Ray was presented with a proclamation from the City of New York that recognized the many important contributions made to the cultural soul of this nation through the music of Little Ray Romero.

Ray Romero is survived by his wife Lucia Romero, his sister Irma Rosen, his four children Stephanie Soffi, Elaine Romero, Little Ray Romero, Jr., and Isabel Santiago, eight grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

He will be flown to New York to be viewed in the neighborhood where he was raised in East Harlem known as El Barrio on Sunday, August 20, 2006 at the Ortiz Funeral Home, 141 East 103rd Street
Between Lex. and Park Ave. 212-876-1913 from 2 to 10 p.m.

Elaine Romero who was with her father and prepared him for the transition has asked all who knew Ray to bring the gift of music and that in lieu of flowers, donations to defray the cost of the funeral should be sent to:

Lucia Romero
35 East 10th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11218

Aurora Flores

Little Ray Romero

Free Walking Tours of Spanish Harlem

November 1, 2009CorrientesBig Onion Walking Tours, City, Deutsche Bank Americas, East Harlem Board of Tourism, Graffiti Hall of Fame, Luis Muï¿½oz, Museo del Barrio, New York, Rockefeller Brothers Fund Arts, Roman Catholic Churchescalona

Destination: El Barrio

El Museo del Barrio and The East Harlem Board of Tourism

Announces Free Saturday Walking Tours

Beginning Saturday, April 15, individuals and families may join a free highlights walking tour through El Barrio. The tour, conducted by guides from Big Onion Walking Tours, has been specially developed with the East Harlem Board of Tourism to feature the thriving Latino arts, culture, and cuisine of the fabled El Barrio community. Sites include the Graffiti Hall of Fame, street murals, St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church, First Spanish United Methodist “Young Lords” Church, La Marqueta, Luis Muñoz Marin Boulevard, the remarkable concentration of museums, galleries and restaurants in El Barrio’s “cultural corridor,” and much, much more.

The Destination: El Barrio walking tour is offered Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. from April 15 through October 14. The tour is FREE and supported by a grant to El Museo del Barrio and the East Harlem Board of Tourism from the Deutsche Bank Americas and Rockefeller Brothers Fund Arts and Enterprise Program. The tour meets at the SE corner of Fifth Avenue and 104^th Street. Prior to the tour, participants are invited to visit El Museo del Barrio and the Museum of the City of New York (suggested admission contributions apply). All individuals and families are invited to join, but no groups, please. No reservations necessary.

The East Harlem Board of Tourism is a group of museums, galleries, artists, activists, historians, entrepreneurs, business organizations, and housing advocates who share a vision of East Harlem/El Barrio as a mecca for tourists with an interest in Latino culture, New York style, and the rich multicultural history of the neighborhood. Its mission includes developing tourism destinations and infrastructure and increasing overall visitorship in East Harlem as means to develop the local economy.

Please visit www.eastharlemtourism.org or e-mail ehtourism@aol.com for more information.

Musica de Camara, Artistic Director Eva de la O

November 1, 2009CorrientesAnthony Newton, Artistic Director, Cesar Vuksic, City, Director Eva de la, Director Eva de la O Piano Festival, Kathleen Benson, Martha Marchenaescalona

Piano Festival at the Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street

On Sundays:

October 21, 2PM
Martha Marchena plays works by Cuban Classical Composers

December 2, 2PM
Cesar Vuksic plays works by Argentinian Classical Composers

February 17, 2PM
Anthony Newton plays works by Aftrican American Classical Composers

For information: Eva de la O: 212.410.5612,
Kathleen Benson: 212.534.1672

Free with Museum Admission

Musica de Camara, Artistic Director Eva de la O

November 1, 2009CorrientesAnthony Newton, Artist, Artistic Director, Carman Moore Commissioned, City, Director Eva de la, Howard Swanson, New York, pianist, Robert Nathaniel Dett, Scott Joplin, Works Byescalona

Third Piano Festival Concert:

The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
New York, NY 10029

Sunday, February 17, 2:00 pm

Guest Artist:
Anthony Newton, pianist

Works By:
African American Classical Composers
Including Howard Swanson, Robert Nathaniel
Dett, Scott Joplin and a World Premiere of Sonata II
by Carman Moore Commissioned by Musica de Camara

For More Information:
Eva de La O
(212) 410-5612

Paula Zadigian
(212) 534-1672 X 3393

Free With Museum Admission

RoCa: Jersey Style

November 1, 2009CorrientesCity, Columbus, Grove Street, Grove Street station, Hoboken Terminal, Holland Tunnel, Jersey Avenue, Jersey Avenue Station, Jersey City, Jersey City Medical Center, Journal Square, Manila Avenue, Monmouth, Montgomery Street, New Jersey, New Jersey Turnpike, Newark, Project Gallery Jersey City Museum, Take NJ Turnpike, Varick Street, West Side Avenue, World Train Centerescalona

September 18, 2008 – February 22, 2009
Opening Reception:
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
Time: 6 – 8pm

Project Gallery
Jersey City Museum
350 Montgomery Street at the corner of Monmouth Street
Jersey City, New Jersey

http://www.jerseycitymuseum.org

PATH
From Manhattan: Take the Newark or Journal Square-bound train to the Grove Street station in Jersey City. Exit the station and walk south (the Hard Grove Café will be on your right) on Grove Street for three blocks to Montgomery Street and turn right. Walk 3 1/2 blocks to the Museums main entrance at 350 Montgomery Street.

From Newark: Take the 33rd Street or World Train Center-bound train to the Grove Street station in Jersey City. Exit the station and walk south (the Hard Grove Café will be on your right) on Grove Street for three blocks to Montgomery Street and turn right. Walk 3 1/2 blocks to the Museums main entrance at 350 Montgomery Street.

Hudson Bergen Light Rail From Hoboken: Take the 22nd Street or West Side Avenue-bound train to the Jersey Avenue Station. Walk north on Jersey Avenue (Jersey City Medical Center will be on your left) for three blocks to Montgomery Street and turn left. Walk 1 1/2 blocks to the Museums main entrance at 350 Montgomery Street.

From Bayonne & West Side Avenue: Take the Hoboken Terminal-bound train to the Jersey Avenue Station. Walk north on Jersey Avenue (Jersey City Medical Center will be on your left) for three blocks to Montgomery Street and turn left. Walk 1 1/2 blocks to the Museums main entrance at 350 Montgomery Street.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS
From Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel: exit the tunnel and continue two blocks to Manila Avenue and make a left turn. Go straight on Manila Avenue for 12 blocks and cross over Christopher Columbus Drive, at this point Manila Avenue becomes Grove Street. Continue straight on Grove Street for three blocks and make a right turn on Montgomery Street. Follow Montgomery Street 3 1/2 blocks to the museum’s main entrance.

From points north or south on the New Jersey Turnpike: Take NJ Turnpike to exit 14C. Go through the first ticket tollbooth (bear to the left over bridge). Follow TP extension for a few miles until 2nd set of pay tollbooths. After which, take your second exit, marked “Jersey City – Columbus Drive.” Follow the exit ramp and continue straight through the traffic light (crossing Montgomery Street) and bear right onto Christopher Columbus Drive. At the 3rd traffic light make a right onto Varick Street, continue to the next traffic light and make a right onto Montgomery Street. The museum is on the right, at the next light, at the corner of Monmouth and Montgomery Streets.

MUSICA DE CAMARA PRESENTS SOPRANO CAMILLE ORTIZ IN A SPRING CONCERT

November 1, 2009CorrientesAlice Tully Hall, ALMA, Andre Expedition, Anton Nel, Artist, Austria, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, CAMILLE ORTIZ, Caribbean, Carlos Chavez Hall, Carnegie Corporation, City, Claude Debussy, Con Edison Company, Credit Suisse, Delmar Foundation, Deloitte LLP, Dominick Argento, East 104th Street, East Harlem Chamber of Commerce, EMK Enterprises, Enrique Granados, Fiddler, First Republic Bank, founder-director, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Germany, Granada, Hugo Wolf, Hunter College, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, Jesus Guridi, Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, Kaufman Cultural Center, Lincoln Center, Manhattan School of Music, Martina Arroyo, Merkin Concert Hall, Mexico, Michigan, Musica de Camara Inc., New York, New York City, New York City Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Senate, Painted By Sea, pianist, pianistic poet, Puerto Rico, Rome, San Francisco, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tenri Cultural Institute, Teresa Berganza, the 2008 Gerda Lissner Foundation Award, the University of Michigan, United States, Universidad Nacional Autonoma, Vega Baja, Vinciescalona

CAMILLE ORTIZ IN A SPRING CONCERT

Musica de Camara Inc. presents a concert, “Painted By Sea and Sun”, at the Museum of the City of New York, featuring the soprano Camille Ortiz on Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 3 pm. The Museum os located at 1220 Fifth Avenue at East 104th Street in New York City. Admission is free. Ms Ortiz will sing works by Jesus Guridi, Enrique Granados, Hugo Wolf, Claude Debussy and Heitor Villa Lobos. She will be joined at the piano by Jeanne-Minette Cilliers.

Camille Ortiz was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico and completed her Master’s Degree of Music at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. She appeared in the Festival of Interpretation of Spanish Song in Granada, Spain where she worked with the acclaimed Spanish mezzo soprano Teresa Berganza. In Italy, she sang leading opera roles with the Centro Studi Lirica and at the Scuola di Leonardo da Vinci in Rome, she completed her Italian studies. Among the numerous venues in which she has been presented in concert are the Carlos Chavez Hall at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma of Mexico, the Sala Manuel de Falla in Granada, Spain, the Tenri Cultural Institute and the Bruno Walter Auditorium. She has been the subject of a nationally broadcast television program on the network Telemundo and last season, after participating in a Master Class conducted by the renown soprano Martina Arroyo, Ms. Ortiz won accolades for her opera portrayals in the subsequent concert “Prelude to Performance” at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. A winner of the 2008 Gerda Lissner Foundation Award and a finalist in the coveted 2009 Liederkranz Competition, she is founder-director of ALMA, an organization that promotes Hispanic American classical repertoire.

Currently on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, South African pianist Jeanne-Minette Cilliers has been called “a pianistic poet” and has garnered rave reviews for her color-rich and imaginative performances. Much in demand as a collaborator, she has performed in Austria, Germany, Israel, Japan, Sweden, South Africa and across the United States. She fosters a strong interest in contemporary music and her recording of Dominick Argento’s “Andre Expedition” will be released next season. Ms. Cilliers has earned both her Bachelor and Master’s Degress of Music with distinction at the University of Michigan, while studying with fellow South African Anton Nel who is a Naumberg Competition Gold medalist. Ms. Cilliers remains the first and only recipient of an Artist Diploma in Vocal Accompaniment from the Manhattan School of Music. Her upcoming schedule of performances include appearances in New York City, San Francisco, Sweden, South Africa and the Caribbean.
Now celebrating its 29th Year, and founded by soprano Eva de La O, Musica de Camara has presented Puerto Rican, Hispanic and non-Hispanic classical musicians in concert in major concert venues such as Alice Tully Hall; Lincoln Center, the Merkin Concert Hall; Kaufman Cultural Center as well as community centers, schools, colleges, churches and museums. The organization also travels to public schools in under-served communities with its Lecture Demonstration Program.

This concert has been made possible in part with the support of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Council, the New York State Senate and Assembly, the East Harlem Chamber of Commerce, the Museum of the City of New York, the Con Edison Company, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Consultiva Internacional of Puerto Rico, EMK Enterprises, Deloitte LLP, First Republic Bank, Credit Suisse, Fiddler – Gonzalez – Rodriguez PSC, the Delmar Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

MNN is officially out of PRdream’s new media loft

December 15, 2006The ForumA Living Memorial, Arte de Puerto Rico, Cable TV, Center of Puerto Rican Studies, Chile, City, coaxial cable, Dan Coughlin, digital technology, DIRECTOR, Director of Manhattan Neighborhood Network, East 104th Street, East 106th Street, El Diario, El Mercurio, El Museo de Arte, Executive Director, free wireless internet access, Hunter College, Judith Escalona, Lexington Avenue, media gallery, media practices, Museo de Arte, Museo de la Historia de Ponce, Museo del Barrio, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NUYORICAN CINEMA, PRdream.com, satellite public access, studio of Upper Manhattan, The Handball Court Summer Film Festival, the New York Times, Time-Warner, University of Puerto Rico, WABC, WABC-TV, WCBS, WCBS-TV, WHITE PARKescalona

PRdream/MediaNoche, the first new media gallery and digital studio of Upper Manhattan, and Manhattan Neighborhood Network, the community access organization for Manhattan, opened a satellite public access, cable television facility in PRdream’s loft on East 106th Street in 2004. This past Friday, December 1, they met to finalize the terms of MNN’s departure which was set for Wednesday, December 13. According to Judith Escalona, Director of PRdream.com and MediaNoche, “the split was long in the making.” The two organizations, one small and the other large, are remarkably different in their uses of media and their ultimate aims.

PRdream/MediaNoche seeks to utilize digital technology and the internet to advance an agenda that opens a dialogue among artists and filmmakers worldwide while maintaining a strong community base. That agenda involves the production, exhibition and distribution of digital artwork and films. It also involves an ongoing theorizing and critique of media practices.

Manhattan Neighborhood Network is mandated by the franchise agreement between the city of New York and Time-Warner, to provide free training in video production and programming time to the residents of Manhattan over the designated public access channels in Manhattan. They also have a website at http://www.mnn.org. Public Access television came into being in the seventies, as an enticement created by the cable companies who wanted to install coaxial cable in city streets.

Neither organization plans to leave Spanish Harlem aka El Barrio. PRdream first came to El Barrio in 1999 to showcase an unique film festival called Nuyorican Cinema at the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center and later opened its new media loft on East 106th Street in order to collect the oral histories of the Puerto Rican diaspora. This work continues unabated and can be seen online at http://www.prdream.com.

They later expanded their activities by creating the first new media gallery and digital film studio of Upper Manhattan, MediaNoche, and The Handball Court Summer Film Festival, screening international films at sunset by projecting them on the handball court wall on East 106th Street. This past summer, they launched MediaNoche_wifi, offering free wireless internet access on East 106th Street and White Park.

PRdream/MediaNoche will continue its activities from its new media loft. Check out http://www.prdream.com and http://www.medianoche.us.

In a move that involves temporarily downsizing, MNN will occupy a smaller space on Lexington Avenue, according to Dan Coughlin, the Executive Director of Manhattan Neighborhood Network, while they prepare for a permanent residence on East 104th Street, where they are in the process of purchasing the delapidated firehouse located there. The sale of the firehouse by El Museo del Barrio was surrounded by controversy by community residents who saw the loss of a cultural asset. The building has been closed for two decades and shows the wear of disuse and neglect.

For Escalona, it’s all part of a process of cleaning house and streamlining activities at PRdream/MediaNoche. “We’ve reached a point of growth that necessitates refocusing and assessment in order to continue to deliver smart, good quality work.” 2006 was apparently a great year for the organization which hosted the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition “In the Making.” They also completed a webcast that featured an international dialogue of the work of Diogenes Ballester with El Museo de la Historia de Ponce, and The Caribbean University of Puerto Rico, this past September.

PRdream/MediaNoche has also collaborated with the Center of Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, El Museo del Barrio, the Museum of the City of New York, and El Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. PRdream.com and MediaNoche have been featured on WABC-TV, WCBS-TV, NY1, The New York Times, NY Daily News, NY Post, El Diario, Hoy, El Mercurio (Chile), Siempre, Tiempo, and After Image, as well as international publications and web sites.

What do you think of the exhibition “El Barrio: Puerto Rican New York”, currently at the Museum of the City of New York?

April 27, 2005The ForumCity, New YorkVirtual Boricua