Artists Rep hosts FREE concert with
Three-Time, Grammy-Nominated Cuban Group
Tiempo Libre
Celebrating Upcoming World Premiere of the New Musical
Cuba Libre
WHO: Artists Repertory Theatre featuring three-time Grammy-nominee Tiempo Libre
WHAT: Free concert, open to the public, celebrating Cuba Libre, Portland’s world-class musical in the making
DATE: September 21, 2015
TIME: 5p.m. –7p.m.; Tiempo Libre on stage 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Director Park, 815 SW Park Ave., Portland, Oregon 97205
TICKETS: FREE, open to the public
BAND IMAGE: Attached. Photo Credit: Elvis Suarez/GlassWorksMultiMedia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Portland, Oregon | September 3, 2015. On September 21, Artists Repertory Theatre will host a free concert at Director Park in downtown Portland featuring the three-time, Grammy-nominated band Tiempo Libre, to celebrate the world premiere of the Broadway-scale new musical Cuba Libre. Tiempo Libre will be on stage 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for a free, full hour of their irresistible Afro-Cuban music and performing songs off their new Universal Music Latin Entertainment album Panamericano (music videos are available here: http://bit.ly/TLplaylist). Before and after this special set, Portland’s DJ Blas will spin salsa music for all to dance and enjoy. Special guests TBA.
Cuba Libre, is a contemporary musical inspired by the collective histories of the members of Tiempo Libre, featuring a book by playwright Carlos Lacámara, the band’s own music and the spectacular choreography of Maija Garcia, is told by a company of 21 highly trained, award-winning, multi-ethnic, multi-disciplinary actors, dancers and musicians. The musical is a bilingual theatre experience with the majority of the dialogue in English and the music largely in Spanish.
Tiempo Libre will perform live onstage for every performance during the show’s world premiere run October 3 through November 8.
“To us, music is not just a way of life, it is a way of experiencing life. We all grew up together during a difficult time in Cuba’s history, called the Special Period, when Russia had pulled out its support. Times were very hard, but music was a way in which we could escape our worries and enjoy ourselves. Later it was our dreams of playing the music we wanted to play that gave us the strength to leave Cuba and come to the U.S., a country which has made so many possibilities come true for us. We hope you will come to the concert and we hope you will come see Cuba Libre, because, to us, you won’t just be the audience, you will be a guest in our house, a part of our celebration, and a part of our story,” says Tiempo Libre founder and Cuba Libre music director Jorge Gómez.
ABOUT TIEMPO LIBRE
Three-time, Grammy-nominated, Afro-Caribbean music group Tiempo Libre is celebrated for its sophisticated tropical music featuring an irresistible, exhilarating mix of jazz harmonies, contemporary sonorities and seductive Latin rhythms.
Throughout the past 14 years, the band has appeared around the globe and has been featured on television shows including The Tonight Show, Live from Lincoln Center, and Dancing with the Stars, as well as many entertainment programs on Univision and Telemundo. Childhood friends in Cuba, the bands’ members reunited in Miami, and founded Tiempo Libre in 2001 during their “free time” off from performing with other artists. Since then Tiempo Libre’s members have been on a mission to share their Afro-Caribbean heritage with as wide an audience as possible, reinterpreting and reinvigorating music born from the meeting of their musical origins with their new American experience.
“Music is universal. We’ve learned from playing all over the world that you don’t need to speak Spanish for Latin rhythms to speak to you, for Cuban culture to move you.” adds Gómez.
Newly signed in 2015 to Universal Music Latin Entertainment in partnership with Universal Music Classics, Tiempo Libre released its latest album Panamericano in June, 2015 to rave reviews. The album is currently being played on more than 180 radio stations.
More information at www.tiempolibremusic.com
TIEMPO LIBRE
Jorge Gómez—Pianist & Musical Director
Luis Beltran—Saxophone & Flute
Michel Ruíz Garcia—Trumpet
Xavier Mili Saint-Ives—Lead Vocals, maracas and guiro
Wilber Rodríguez—Bass, vocals
Israel Morales—Drums
Leandro González—Congas, vocals
ABOUT CUBA LIBRE
Told in flashbacks from present-day Miami to 1990s Cuba, Cuba Libre centers around a Cuban musician still haunted by the sacrifices he, his friends and family made for him to pursue his artistic dreams in the U.S. while he makes a new life for himself as an American. The universal tale of a man caught between countries, losses and loves, and his search for freedom reverberates across politics, ambition and romance with quick-witted dialogue, joy-filled dance and Latin-fusion beats.
For more information about Cuba Libre: http://www.artistsrep.org/onstage/2015-16-season/cuba-libre.aspx
ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATRE
Portland’s premiere mid-size regional theatre company is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodriguez and Managing Director Sarah Horton. Founded in 1982, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theatre company in Portland. For the 2015/16 season Artists Rep will offer eight bold and entertaining plays written by internationally acclaimed playwrights and guided by esteemed directors. Artists Rep productions will feature the work of a core group of accomplished Resident Artists, each with a shared history and a shorthand for collaboration, working alongside guest artists from Portland and beyond. Artists Rep is also home to the ArtsHub, a program which offers residencies within Artists Rep’s facility to smaller and emerging arts organizations with subsidized administrative, performance and rehearsal space, as well other infrastructural services. The Artists Rep facility serves as a community arts center, where performance venues and other public spaces are continually buzzing with activity.
Artists Rep’s mission is to engage diverse audiences in fresh, thought-provoking and intimate theatre. We are committed to world-class acting, directing, design and stagecraft that support new playwriting and aspire to embody great literature, moving audiences to truly feel — to experience — storytelling in a way that only the best live theatre can.
The 2015/16 Artists Repertory Theatre season is presented by Ronni Lacroute/WillaKenzie Estate. Our season media sponsors are The Oregonian and KINK. Cuba Libre is sponsored by The Standard and Oakwood America, with funding from the Kinsman Foundation, and with media sponsorship from Portland Monthly Magazine and media partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Other season support comes from the Regional Arts Culture Council, Oregon Community Foundation, Collins Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation and Work for Art.
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Artists Repertory Theatre
1515 SW Morrison St.
Portland, OR 97205
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