Featuring Chucho Valdés, the unparalleled legend of Afro-Cuban jazz, performing selections from his incredible body of work, and joined by Longy alum Juan Ruiz.
Monday, April 14, 2025
Cocktail Hour 6:00 p.m. ET
Concert 7:00 p.m. ET
Pickman Hall
Festive Attire
GALA HONORARY CHAIR – Nancy Peery Marriott
At Longy, we know that music is for everyone. Come enjoy a fantastic evening of Afro-Cuban jazz and support our students who will change the world with their music.
All gala proceeds support scholarships for musicians who have the potential to make a difference in the world and innovative programs that expand what a life in music can mean.
Unable to attend but would like to make a gift to support the Gala Benefit Concert?
Recipient of the 2025 Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award
Presented by Jamie Bernstein
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. He has won multiple GRAMMY® and Latin GRAMMY® Awards, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Science, and has been inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. Born into a family of musicians in 1941, his first teacher was his father, the pianist, composer, and bandleader Ramón “Bebo” Valdés. He graduated the Conservatorio Municipal de Música de la Habana, at 14 and in 1959, he debuted professionally with the band Sabor de Cuba, one of the great orchestras in modern Cuban music.
Mr. Valdés embodies many of the key values cultivated at Longy, including the freedom to explore, creative thought and innovation, and the joy of making and sharing music with others.
Born in Medellín, Colombia, Juan Ruiz has emerged as one of the most sought-after jazz musicians in the New York City music scene, where he continues to delight audiences with his music and poetry as the leader of his band. Juan studied Composition and Jazz Performance on clarinet and saxophone at the Longy School of Music and Berklee College of Music. He studied under the tutelage of Ken Radnofsky, Greg Hopkins, Shannon Leclaire, John Morrison, and Ed Tomassi. His most recent compositions have been presented in Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, China, Germany, and the United States and he recently performed as a special guest of the unique jazz harpist Edmar Castañeda at Dizzy’s Club. He also works closely with the 17-time GRAMMY® winner Paquito D’Rivera, composing, arranging, and performing a diverse repertoire during his concerts in New York and abroad. Juan has also worked as a producer for different projects including artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, The New York Voices, Paquito D’Rivera, and Chucho Valdés & Irakere among others.
