SummerStage: The New York Pops with Ozomatli

Tuesday, June 12, 8:00 PM

SummerStage
Central Park, New York, NY

FREE!

The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States, and the only professional symphonic orchestra in New York City specializing in popular music. Led by Music Director Steven Reineke, the orchestra performs an annual subscription series and birthday gala at Carnegie Hall. The New York Pops was founded by Skitch Henderson in 1983 with a mission to create greater public awareness and appreciation of America’s rich musical heritage. The New York Pops’ extensive education programs allow thousands of public schoolchildren to participate in concert and music-making experiences throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

Ozomatli celebrates the multitude of cultures in Los Angeles with their music – a notorious urban-Latino-and-beyond collision of hip-hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East LA R&B, Jamaican ragga and Indian raga. For 15 years, they have entertained audiences around the world with their unique sound of horns, percussions, strings and vocals while promoting a positive message of peace. According to the LA Times, “Ozomatli’s deep community connections and polyglot mix give the band a musical and cultural cachet.” The seven multi-racial members of Ozomatli are committed to addressing social issues of local, national, and international importance through fun, yet inspirational entertainment.

The HSA Jazz Band and the HSA Advanced Jazz Combo are comprised of elementary, middle, and high school age students who actively explore America’s Classical Music: Jazz.  Through their studies at the Harlem School of the Arts, each student has received extensive training in improvisation and the key elements encompassing the art form of jazz. In collaboration with the New York Pops and Ozomatli, HSA students will incorporate a youthful energy into the singles “Cumbia de Los Muertos” and “Como Ves,” mainstays in the Ozomatli songbook that typify the group’s infectious global grooves.

Founded in 1964, the Harlem School of the Arts is New York City’s premiere cultural arts institution offering world-class training in music, dance, theatre and visual arts.  HSA offers its students access to the arts and the freedom to discover and develop the artist and citizen within themselves in an environment that emphasizes rigorous training, stimulates creativity, builds self-confidence, and adds a dimension of beauty to their lives, empowering them to become the creative thinkers and innovative leaders of tomorrow. www.hsanyc.org