Juan Sebastián Delgado, cello, and Kristhyan Benitez, piano

Cellist Juan Sebastián Delgado teams up with pianist Kristhyan Benitez in a program of original music for cello and piano from Latin America, featuring works by Astor Piazzolla, Mario Lavista, Francisco Mignone, Carlos Guastavino, and Manuel Ponce. First-prize winner at the 2008 Latin-American Cello Festival, Delgado is active in the creation and dissemination of new works that explore the cello in innovative ways. Grammy award winning pianist Kristhyan Benitez is exciting audiences worldwide with his vivid and passionate concerts, presenting both Classical and Latin American repertoire with depth, passion and charisma.

The complete program:
Tres Piezas Breve (1944) — Astor Piazzolla
Quotations (1976) — Mario Lavista
Modinha (1939) — Francisco Mignone
La Rosa y el Sauce — Carlos Guastavino
Sonata for cello and piano (1922) — Manuel Ponce

Argentinean cellist Juan Sebastián Delgado completed doctoral studies in performance at McGill University studying with Matt Haimovitz, focusing on contemporary music and Nuevo Tango. The CBC Radio Ideas chose his artistic research to be featured throughout Canada, and he was the featured cellist in the episode Virtuoso Brain by the TV program Decouverte. His interest in research and education brought him to create and structure a performance graduate seminar on the history of the tango at McGill University, to conduct research on improvisation at the Université de Montréal-OCIRM (FRQSC fellowship), and he was recently appointed as Faculty Fellow for Diversity in the Arts at UMBC, where he is devoted to music research, performance, and education.

Kristhyan Benitez is part of the new generation of Venezuelan musicians earning international attention for their colorful high-energy, rhythmically charged performances. He has appeared on some of the world’s most prestigious stages including Philarmonie Hall (Berlin), Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco), Town Hall (New York), and the National Center for the Performing Arts (Beijing). His third recording and first for the Steinway Label, “Latin American Classics,” won the Latin Grammy for Best Classical Album in 2021 and includes music from Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico.

$15 general admission, $10 seniors, $5 students. Tickets will be available late January 2025.

Linehan Concert Hall is easy to visit, with plenty of free parking. Please visit here for directions and parking information.