The Taft School Music for a While concert series continues Friday, January 17^th with Fandango and Other Dances, a performance by Boston-based Latin-Baroque Fusion ensemble Rumbarroco. The concert begins at 7:00 pm in Woodward Chapel, 25 The Green, Watertown. The event is free and open to the public; tickets are not required.

Rumbarroco brings together talented musicians from across the globe, including Fausto Miro, tenor; Eduardo Betancourt, harp & percussion; Salome Sandoval, Baroque guitar; Katherine Shao, keyboards; Kirsten Lamb, bass; Laury Gutierrez, viola da gamba; Miguel Morales, percussion; and Danilo Bonina, violin. Together, these artists explore European influence on Afro-American and indigenous music in Latin America, and how the fusion of those musical styles with European classical music has produced new musical genres. Through their work and with the use of period, folk, and contemporary popular instruments, Rumbarroco musicians recreate, preserve, and popularize the diverse, multicultural aspects of the rhythmic patterns passed down from the Middle Ages to today. 

“We seek to unite today’s diverse communities through the powerful transformative passion of the music we play,” notes Director Laury Gutiérrez. “We employ music as a tool for cultural integration, especially for empowering youth in their personal growth.”

Gutiérrez is the founder of La Donna Musicale, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the historically informed performance of Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Contemporary music, which includes both the Rumbarroco and La Donna Musicale ensembles. La Donna Musicale ensemble is devoted exclusively to the discovery, preservation, and promotion of sacred and secular music by women composers. The ensemble uses period instruments and historical performance practices. 

Rumbarroco and La Donna Musicale have presented more 500 concerts and educational programs in the United States, Europe, and South America, and at academic institutions, including Harvard, Rice, and Clark Universities, and Simmons and Providence Colleges. They have produced several groundbreaking commercial CDs to outstanding national and international reviews and have earned numerous awards and accolades. They have presented many modern world premieres, and, through radio and video performances, have reached audiences from China to Chile, from Austria to Australia, and from Colombia to Cork.

Preferred parking is available in the Woodward Chapel lot located behind the building. Tickets are not required. For more information, please call the Box Office at 860-945-7898 or visit taftschool.org/concerts. Learn more about the performers at www.ladm.org or rumbarroco.org.