HAVANA (AP) – A concert Friday night by the Minnesota Orchestra marks the first performance in Cuba by a full professional U.S. orchestra since 1999, coming just months after the two former Cold War rivals announced a thaw in relations.
Few of the visiting Americans speak Spanish, but “the universal language of music” was all they needed, said Mele Willis, the orchestra’s artistic operations manager.
The performance at Havana’s 2,000-seat National Theater is to include famed Cuban pianist Frank Fernandez and the Cuban National Choir. Live broadcasts are planned for Cuba and in the U.S. via Minnesota Public Radio.
Smaller groups of U.S. classical musicians have visited Cuba in recent years, but a 1999 visit by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is believed to be the last by a major orchestra.
Friday’s concert comes a day after the Americans held standing-room-only master classes with music students at a Havana high school and university. Students filled every seat, sat on floors, peered in through windows and videotaped the sessions with cellphones.