Madelina y Los Carpinteros w/ Wentworth-Romero Duo: A Celebration of Latin-American Roots

An evening of folk-inspired Latin American music of resistance and joy, Madelina y Los Carpinteros, plus special guest Tito Guerra, present traditional and original music from Chile, Argentina, the Andes Region, Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Madelina y Los Carpinteros is a multicultural Latin American ensemble following the tradition of Nueva Canción and Nueva Trova, movements that came out of the Americas’ liberation struggles to freshly embody the folk roots with an enriched lyricism. The group sings original compositions and presents new interpretations of music from South America, the Andes, and Puerto Rico.

Wentworth-Romero Duo shares the night, playing an eclectic mix of classical, Latin, Brazilian, and global music. Francisca Wentworth and Tom Romero, a flute-guitar duo, have performed together around the San Francisco Bay Area since 2010.

 
FEATURING:
Fernando Torres – guitar, tiple, Venezuelan cuatro, charango, zampoña, percussion
Madeleine Zayas – vocals, cajón, güiro, Venezuelan maracas, bombo
Denis Schmidt – guitar, charango, tiple, zampoña, bongos, drumset, effects
Craig Thomas – Puerto Rican cuatro, upright bass, zampoñas
Francisca Wentworth – flute
Tom Romero – guitar
Tito Guerra – soprano saxophone, accordion, bass, vocals

 
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Originally from Chile, Fernando “Feña” Torres is a musician, composer, poet, and journalist. He masters several Latin American folk string and wind musical instruments. He started to perform publicly at the zenith of what was later known as the Chilean New Song Movement. After being expelled from Chile by the military dictatorship in 1977, Torres came to the U.S. as a political refugee. He was a founding member of one of the first South American music ensembles in the Bay Area, Grupo Raiz. Torres has composed music for theater and film and collaborated with many Bay Area and international musicians such as Pete Seeger and Holly Near.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Madeleine Zayas is a Latin American singer/interpreter, songwriter, and choreographer based in Oakland. She is the lead singer and artistic muse of the bands with whom she has been performing throughout the Bay Area since 2012. Her singing career began as a duo with Brandon Vance and as co-founder of Buena Trova Social Club. With a love of dance at an early age, Zayas became a choreographer at age 10 and a professional dancer at age 15. She has performed in theaters and on television in Puerto Rico, California, and Nevada since 1985, and has shared the stage with Inti-Illimani, Holly Near, and John Santos. Zayas believes in art and cultural activism as a positive force of communication and a tool for social change.

Denis Schmidt, born in Paris, has been playing South American folk music since the 1970s. After studying this music in Perú, Bolivia, and Ecuador, he came to the Bay Area and started playing with different groups such as Grupo Raíz, Pueblo Unido, Canta Tierra, and Madelina y los Carpinteros. Guitar, charango, zampoñas, and percussions are among the many instruments Schmidt plays.

Craig Thomas started playing guitar in the 1960s. He has played folk songs in archetypical ‘60s smoke-filled coffee houses and ‘70s West Coast scenes. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, he joined in on debates on both sides of the question, “Is jazz a folkloric musical form?” In the 90s, he started learning to play music from latitudes to the south, from the Caribbean to South America, including folkloric music, popular music, and Latin jazz. A life-long respect for songs of struggle has connected him with Madelina y los Carpinteros, with whom he plays string bass and Puerto Rican cuatro.

Francisca Wentworth plays flute, alto flute, South American pan pipes, and quena. She began playing at the age of 13, guided by her grandmother, world-renowned harpsichordist Alice Ehlers. She later studied with Roger Stevens in Los Angeles and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. While living in London, Wentworth attended a week-long master class with flute great James Galway. During her travels in Europe, she performed in Austria and London with various guitarists and in Spain with the Pepe Million Trio. Wentworth has shared the stage with artists including Inti-Illimani, Pete Seeger, Holly Near, and Bonnie Raitt.

Tom Romero is a music teacher at Kehillah’s Jewish High School in Palo Alto, California. He is an active musician who has been teaching guitar in the wider San Francisco Bay Area for over 15 years. He has a BA in music from California State University, Long Beach, where he studied classical guitar with Kurt Schuster. Romero then received his teaching credential and MA in music teaching from Notre Dame University, where he studied classical guitar with Richard Patterson. Romero has composed original music for short films and documentaries, and he currently performs with the Aurora Mandolin Orchestra/Ensemble, Three Times Bad, and the Silver Strings Ensemble.

Tito Guerra is a self-taught Bohemian and Chilean multi-instrumentalist. “Mis manos son lo único que tengo.”

 
Time: 7:00pm doors / 7:30pm show
Admission: $20-25 sliding scale. Ticket availability at the door is limited and contingent on online sales.
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