MacArthur 'Genius Award' recipient Miguel Zenon to perform at Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Jazz saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón will perform at 8 p.m. April 9 in Stewart Center's Loeb Playhouse at Purdue University. The show will feature Zenón's septet in an exploration of the roots of the traditional Puerto Rican plena.
A saxophonist and composer, Zenón has consistently earned high praise for his innovative marriage of Afro-Caribbean and Latin American jazz. In April 2008 Zenón received a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation to work on his next project, which focused on plena music from Puerto Rico. Later that year he was one of 25 distinguished individuals chosen to receive the coveted MacArthur Grant, also known as the "Genius Grant."
Originating in 19th-century Ponce, Puerto Rico, plena combines African rhythmic syncopations with European harmonies and melodic cadences. Zenón combines the plena with the dynamism of contemporary jazz in a new 10-part suite inspired by return visits to his birthplace. Zenón's regular quartet, featuring pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig, and drummer Henry Cole, will be joined by three pleneros, incorporating the hallmark hand percussion and singing of the plena. His 2009 release, Esta Plena was nominated for a Grammy as Best Latin Jazz Album.
Tickets are $26 for adults and $19 for children 18 years and younger, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Tickets are available at the Elliott Hall and Stewart Center box offices at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster outlets. Discounted tickets for groups of 10 or more can be ordered at 765-496-1977.
Initiated in 1902, Purdue Convocations is among the oldest collegiate professional performing arts presenters in the United States. Each year, Convocations offers the region 30 to 40 performances of widely varying genres: Broadway-style shows, theater, dance, children's theater, world music, jazz, and chamber music, along with rock, pop, country and comedy attractions. With a vision for connecting artists and audiences in artistic dialogue and for drawing in academic discourse, Purdue Convocations aims to promote frequent exposure to and familiarity with human cultural expression in a multitude of forms and media.
Contact: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, (765) 494-5045, aeeddy@purdue.edu
Publication-quality photos of Miguel Zenón are available at https://www.purdue.edu/convocations/showPhotos.asp?ID=25