SMU jazz groups present ‘A Night in Havana’ April 4

A. Eric Heukeshoven (right) with colleagues from the American Composers Forum Cuba delegation including Dr. John Paulson (second from left) and New York composer Peter Flint (center) take a break during the Havana Jazz Festival in December 2013 to interact with two Havana jazz musicians. 

WINONA, Minn. — It’s been a long winter, but things will heat up as Saint Mary’s University’s Music Department presents “A Night in Havana” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 4, in Page Theatre.

Inspired by the music and rhythms he experienced while visiting Havana, Cuba last December, SMU jazz studies director A. Eric Heukeshoven and the talented student jazz musicians will bring music written and inspired by Cuban composers back home to Winona.

From Caravan – Duke Ellington’s collaboration with Juan Tizol – to Chick Corea’s La Fiesta, the concert will trace the threads of Cuban culture and its extraordinary contributions to jazz.

Special guests for the evening include a select group of percussionists led by SMU World Drum Ensemble director Dennis McGuire. The group will join the celebration on authentic Afro-Cuban instruments.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors and are available by calling the SMU Box Office, (507) 457-1715, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, or online at www.pagetheatre.org.

For more information, please contact A. Eric Heukeshoven at (507) 457-7292 or eheukesh@smumn.edu.