Music Plus Poetry Equals Concert: Crane Latin Ensemble Performance Inspired by Famous Café

SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music Presents Crane Latin Ensemble Concert, Inspired by Nuyorican Poets Café in NYC

POTSDAM, NY (11/07/2014)(readMedia)-- The next Crane Latin Ensemble concert will combine music and poetry for a performance straight out of the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City -- right here in Potsdam, N.Y.

SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music will present the special concert on Friday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater. This concert is free, and the public is invited to attend.

An evening of music and spoken word poetry, the performance will be inspired by the Nuyorican Poets Café, the cultural icon and multi-disciplinary arts venue on NYC's Lower East Side.

The Crane Latin Ensemble will highlight Nuyorican-inspired musical works, such as Chris Washburne's "Nuyorican Son" and Mitch Frohman's boogaloo, "Watch Out!" The evening will also showcase original poetry performed by Dr. Oscar Sarmiento and students from the College's Department of Modern Languages. In addition, the works of Brooklyn-born Nuyorican poet Martín Espada, called "the Latino poet of his generation," will also be featured.

Drew Lammly, alto saxophone, will be a featured performer at this concert. In addition to Dr. Sarmiento, the following students will present spoken word pieces: Rosangeles Garcia, Jeanna Mathews, Luis Lendof, Maria Gonzalez and Cameron Brownell.

The Crane Latin Ensemble is a group at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, dedicated to exploring the genre of Afro-Cuban music and salsa in its entirety. Directed by Dr. Marsha Baxter, the ensemble explores folkloric and contemporary rhythms, songs and styles that take their roots specifically from Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

In the spring, the ensemble and Sarmiento will take the show on the road -- performing at the one and only Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City on May 21, 2015.

This concert will be broadcast live on the SUNY Potsdam website at the performance time. To view the program and see other upcoming streaming performances, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming.

For more information about SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution.

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