DATE: THURSDAY, december 6
TIME: 8:00 P.M.
TICKETS: $25 ($20 for students & seniors)

This special evening presents two sides of the exciting, Cuban-bred Aruán Ortiz, as improvising pianist and as composer of chamber music. The night’s first half features Aruán solo, plus alongside a special guest to be announced. About Cub(an)ism, Aruán’s recent Intakt album of solo piano, The Guardian said: “Aruán Ortiz is a rising piano star with a sweeping contemporary technique – and enough imagination and keyboard-power, fueled by deep awareness of Cuba’s traditions, to be an enthralling one-man band, too… Ortiz fuses hard-driving hooks, free jazz, harp-like effects, thudding drum sounds and lyrical reflections on dissonance and intervals, uniting all of it with a creativity of pacing that constantly grips the attention.” The concert’s second half will consist of two chamber pieces: Living in the Midst of a Twisted Globe, to be performed by the trio of violinist Mary Rowell, cellist Jeffrey Zeigler & pianist Geoffrey Burleson; and Ogguere (when the soul of the earth, dances around spectral motions), to be played by a brass quartet plus double-bass, with Daniel Blankinship and Nate Wooley (trumpets), Michael Fahie (trombone), Eric Davis (French horn) and Nick Dunston (bass). About Aruán’s ambitions as a composer, JazzTimes said: “He is well aware of his roots but has no intention of being confined by them.”