Snow and ice will melt away in a cloud of steam when the Springfield Symphony Orchestra teams up with the Mambo Kings and vocalist Camille Zamora under conductor Nick Palmer’s direction on Feb 10 at 7:30 p.m. Symphony Hall patrons will be swaying to infectious Afro-Cuban rhythms as Palmer, the SSO and their guests present “Havana Nights.”
Zamora, known nationwide for her signature concerts “Tango Caliente” and “Sueños de España,” made her auspicious and memorable debut with the SSO at last season’s Holiday Pops. She is recognized by the NBC Latino and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as a “leading interpreter of classical Spanish song,” and her performances of that repertoire, including Zarzuela and Bolero, have been praised on five continents.
Mambo Kings Latin Jazz Ensemble consists of Music Director Richard Delaney, piano; percussionists Tony Padilla and Wilfredo “Freddy” Colón; saxophonist John Viavattine; and bassist Hector Diaz. Based in Rochester New York, the quintet has been featured as a solo act at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Fest, the Music In The Mountains Festival in Durango, (CO), the Lewiston (NY) Jazz Fest and the Big Sky Arts Fest in Bozeman, MT.
Mambo Kings can be heard on three self-produced recordings; “Marinera” (2003), “Live!” (2005), and “Nostalgia” (2008).
They have been appearing with orchestras since their debut with the Rochester Philharmonic and conductor/arranger Jeff Tyzik in 1997.
Individual members have collaborated with a diverse host of stars, among them Aretha Franklin, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D’Rivera, Ray Charles, Chuck Mangione, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Steve Gadd, and Lou Gramm.
In a pre-season interview, SSO Executive Director Paul Lambert noted about the SSO pops season, “We live among a remarkably diverse population. Many small communities make up our large community, and we are quite deliberately programming some hybrid popular artist concerts that allow us to attract new audiences representing our region.” Saturday’s Havana Nights event is a shining example of this outreach.
Conductor Nick Palmer has been a frequent guest of the SSO, and he is delighted to return this season. Music Director of the North Charleston Pops in South Carolina, the Altoona Symphony in Pennsylvania, and the Evening Under the Stars Festival in his native Hingham, MA, Maestro Palmer also just completed his 16th and final season with the Lafayette Symphony in Indiana.
In his travels as a Pops conductor, Palmer has had the opportunity to program a lot of interesting and different kinds of music – in a previous interview before his fourth appearance on an SSO Holiday Pops concert, he recounted how “…I got to do music from the movie ‘Nightmare Before Christmas.’ It was kind of like taking Shostakovich, Kurt Weill, Klezmer music and holiday songs and putting them in a blender!”
Palmer is clearly an eclectic and versatile musician and the SSO is fortunate to have forged its ongoing relationship with him. With Palmer, Camille Zamora and the Mambo Kings in the house, SSO concertgoers are in for a hot time in the old town Saturday night.
Tickets for Havana Nights, priced from $35-$80, may be obtained on the SSO website, or by calling the box office at 413-733-2291, ext. 1.
