Cuban percussionist and singer Pedro Martinez will perform at MHC Friday, October 13, at 8 pm, in Chapin Auditorium.

In his first public engagement since winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz competition, Cuban percussionist and singer Pedro Martinez will perform at MHC Friday, October 13, at 8 pm, in Chapin Auditorium. The event is presented by the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts (MIFA). MIFA specializes in presenting artists working at the forefront of their fields, setting new standards of international theatrical, musical, and artistic thinking.
Martinez has played with Pancho Quinto, a master of the bata drums, and recorded with Tata Guines. Martinez was educated in the entirety of Cuban Yoruba-style percussion as well as in song and dance. The Pedro Martinez Quintet features Pedro Martinez on percussion and vocals; Naomi Bloch on keyboard; Chacho Schwartz on bass; Roman Diaz on percussion; and Diego Lopez on drums.

In September, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz sponsored its fourteenth musicians competition, and awarded the first prize of $20,000 to the twenty-six-year-old Martinez. Other recent winners of the competition have included Joshua Redmon and the late Terry Thomton. This year’s competition departed from traditional jazz instruments such as saxophone, trumpet, bass, piano, and drum sets, and focused on Afro-Latin hand drumming, acknowledging Latin music as an important contributor to the contemporary jazz scene. American jazz musicians are traveling to Cuba in greater numbers, and musicians from the Pan-African world—from Africa, the Afro-Caribbean Islands, and South America—are performing with increasing frequency in the United States, cross-pollinating the musical genres.

Call 800-224-6432 for tickets. Admission is $12 for general audiences, and $8 for students.