Latin Grammy Nominee Septeto Nacional at Aaron Davis Hall

86-year-old Cuban group credited with popularizing ‘son’ genre gives concert November 15 with Dominican ‘sonero’ Cuco Valoy

The City College Center for the Arts, in association with the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, presents Latin Grammy nominee Septeto Nacional (National Septet) de Cuba Ignacio Piñeiro, 7 p.m. Friday, November 15, at Aaron Davis Hall on the City College campus. Cuco Valoy will appear with Septeto Nacional as a special guest.

Considered one of Cuba’s national treasures, Septeto Nacional has been performing as a group since 1927. It is credited with helping to develop and popularize “son,” a Cuban music genre that fuses traditional melodies of the “tres,” a six-string lute guitar, with Afro-Cuban percussion, and is a precursor of mambo and salsa. The group’s album “La Habana Tiene Su Son” is contending for a Latin Grammy in the Best Traditional Tropical Album category.

Appearing with Septeto Nacional will be Cuco Valoy, the Dominican Republic’s premiere “sonero,” or improvisational singer. Mr. Valoy has been enchanting audiences around the world with his bewitching style of improvisational son, salsa, merengue, bachata and bolero since the 1950s.

Tickets are $25 and $30 and can be purchased at the Aaron Davis Hall Box Office, located at West 135th Street & Convent Avenue on the City College campus, by phone at (212) 650-6900 or online at www.adhatccny.org.

Nelson Radhames Rodriguez, host and producer of WHCR-FM’s “La Hora del Son con Nelson y Ramon…” program, which has been on the air for 15 years, curated this event.

About the City College Center for the Arts (CCCA)
CCCA hosts an ambitious, year-round calendar of events, most of which are open to the public and take place at City College’s performing arts center, Aaron Davis Hall. CCCA’s mission is to maintain a world-class creative arts center and focal point for The City College of New York, building a sense of community within the College, elevating the profile of Aaron Davis Hall in the greater New York area and connecting the College to the surrounding community through the arts.

About the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI)
CCCADI was founded in 1976 by Dr. Marta Moreno Vega. It is dedicated to promoting and promulgating the cultures of people of African descents in the Americas. It connects communities from the Diaspora to our root cultures, where the possible provides a comprehensive understanding of the sacred, aesthetic, philosophical thought and practices that our Diaspora communities have gifted the world. Through concerts, gallery tours, workshops, performances, conferences, professional development sessions, spiritual gatherings, teaching artists residencies and social media, it presents programs that reach a multi-generational audience.

About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in: the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; the School of Education; the Grove School of Engineering; the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.  

Set on a striking, 35-acre hilltop campus in upper Manhattan, CCNY has produced more Nobel laureates than any other public institution in the United States. The College has been touted as one of America's Top Colleges by Forbes, one of the Best Colleges in the United States as well as one of the Best Value Colleges by the Princeton Review, and ranks among U.S. News’ top regional universities.