The performances featuring the GRAMMY Award-winning musicians will support Jazz St. Louis
ST. LOUIS (Aug. 2, 2024) – Jazz St. Louis is thrilled to announce Jazz St. Louis Presents Paquito D'Rivera and Chucho Valdés, Together Again!, a two-night fundraising event featuring Cuban jazz legends Paquito D'Rivera and Chucho Valdés Sept. 18-19, 2024 in St. Louis. Longtime friends and collaborators, the two renowned performers have a combined 29 GRAMMY Awards and Latin GRAMMY Awards between them.
The benefit concerts will secure the future of Jazz St. Louis' community programs and events, which have an extensive record of developing future leaders in music, while also preserving and advancing jazz through community engagement efforts and transformative live jazz experiences.
D'Rivera and Valdés will each perform both nights, with the first event taking place Sept. 18, 2024, at Steward Center, the home of Jazz St. Louis in Grand Center. The second night will happen Sept. 19, 2024, at The Sheldon, a larger venue to allow more St. Louisans to experience the legendary musicians.
Clarinetist, saxophonist, author, composer, and arranger D'Rivera and pianist, composer, and arranger Valdés first met in 1962. Both child prodigies and sons of musical families, the two worked together in Havana's Musical Theatre Orchestra and in the Cuban Orchestra of Modern Music.
Jazz St. Louis CEO Victor Goines said the two-night fundraiser is an example of the world-class acts the organization continues to bring to the city. The event follows a once-in-a-generation two-night concert in February 2024 with Branford and Wynton Marsalis that also raised much needed funds for Jazz St. Louis.
“We are honored to welcome Paquito D'Rivera and Chucho Valdés to St. Louis,” Goines said. “Performances of this caliber not only give St. Louis residents the chance to witness legendary talent, but they also encourage our community to celebrate jazz, America’s original art form. Benefits like this support programs that target the next generation of budding musicians and great thinkers, from the time they’re toddlers through high school graduation and beyond.”
D'Rivera and Valdés are examples of musicians who were exposed to music at a young age, which changed the direction of their lives, Goines added.
“D'Rivera and Valdés are not only legends in their field, but they are also examples of musicians who grew up around music and worked hard to reach their level of talent and acclaim,” Goines said. “At Jazz St. Louis, we teach young people to appreciate culture and jazz, as well as leadership skills and discipline. Not everyone will become internationally renowned musicians, but all Jazz St. Louis students benefit from the lessons learned and the memories made through our programs.”
Tickets for night one at Steward Center, home of Jazz St. Louis, are $500 and tickets for night two at The Sheldon range from $75-$150. Tickets for the after-party Sept. 19, 2024 at Steward Center cost $50.
Tickets for both performances and the after party are on sale now and can be purchased online, by phone or in person.
To purchase tickets or to learn more, visit jazzstl.org/together.
Sponsorships are available for both evenings and range from $5,000 – $25,000. For full details, please contact Bridget Polach at bridget@jazzstl.org.
ENDS
Media Contacts:
Haley Raymond, Leigh Walters Communications, (207) 227-7850, haleyr@lwcstrategies.com
Leigh Walters, Leigh Walters Communications, (314) 221-0965, leighw@lwcstrategies.com
About Jazz St. Louis
Jazz St. Louis is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to lead our community in advancing the uniquely American art of jazz through performance, education, and community engagement.
Each year, Jazz St. Louis presents over 270 performances in its internationally acclaimed concert series. The non-profit organization takes a three-pronged approach to its work: presenting jazz, encouraging and educating future audiences, and nurturing budding musicians.
Jazz St. Louis Education programs cultivate leadership and cultural appreciation in the next generation of musicians and listeners through training, educational resources, and transformative engagement with musicians from St. Louis, the U.S. and around the world. Jazz St. Louis has an extensive portfolio of education programs aimed at elementary through college students in the greater St. Louis area and beyond. The organization provides field trip experiences, hands-on training programs, in-school clinics and masterclasses, and curricular resources for teachers, all at no cost to participants.
For more information about Jazz St. Louis, visit jazzstl.org.
About Paquito D'Rivera
Paquito D’Rivera: Cuban clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and author, defies categorization.
An NEA Jazz Master, D’Rivera is equally at home both in the Jazz and a Classical setting. Typical touring schedules have him performing with mayor symphony orchestras both in Europe, Latin America as well as the United States, and then performing with his Jazz Quintet, and most recently with his dear friend Chucho Valdes in their “Reunion” tour.
Recipient of many awards including the National Medal of the Arts, Kennedy Center Living Jazz Legend, Guggenheim fellow, including 17 Grammys and Latin Grammys.
Paquito made his debut at the age of 10 with the Cuban Symphony Orchestra. He was a founder member of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna (which he conducted for 2 years) as well as the groundbreaking Irakere.
His most recent composition, “The Journey” concerto commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra, written for Yo-Yo Ma and with Paquito on clarinet premiered in 2022. Other recordings and concerts in 2019-2024, include the Westdeutscher Rundfunk, from Germany, Orquesta Sinfonica de Alicante, Spain in a Tribute to the Music of Chick Corea. Orchestra de Castilla y León, from Spain, Orquesta de Minerias, from Mexico which got the Latin Grammys for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for Paquito 2023.
About Chucho Valdés
Cuban pianist, composer, and arranger Chucho Valdés is the most influential figure in modern Afro-Cuban jazz. In a career spanning more than 60 years, both as a solo artist and bandleader, Mr. Valdés has distilled elements of the Afro-Cuban music tradition, jazz, classical music, rock, and more, into a deeply personal style. Winner of seven GRAMMY® and six Latin GRAMMY® Awards, Mr. Valdés received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Science. He was also inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of fame.
