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Two local salsa bands, Charanga Carolina and Orquesta GarDel, will perform Saturday (Dec. 12) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Two local salsa bands, Charanga Carolina and Orquesta GarDel, will perform (Saturday) Dec. 12 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The concert and social dance will be at 9 p.m. in the rehearsal hall of Kenan Music Building on South Columbia Street. Tickets at the door will be $5 for students with I.D.s and $10 for others.

Attendees can expect a rare treat: two large-format salsa orchestras on the same bill playing authentic and danceable music from the Cuban, Puerto Rican and American salsa traditions.

The UNC-based concert is essentially a homecoming for Orquesta GarDel, which was founded in 2005 as the professional alter-ego to Charanga Carolina, a University ensemble. Orquesta GarDel’s musical directors Eric Hirsh and Andy Kleindienst are 2006 graduates of the UNC music program and founding members of Charanga Carolina.

David F. Garcia, director of Charanga Carolina and a professor of ethnomusicology at UNC, brought in local salsa veteran Nelson Delgado as a frontman for Charanga in 2004. Delgado has provided vocal talents for both groups since their inception. 

The Dec. 12 event is billed as a 58th birthday party for Delgado.

Composed of UNC students, Charanga Carolina is the only University-based charanga ensemble in North Carolina. The group seeks to bring charanga-based music – including danzón, chacha and salsa – to life for the UNC and Triangle communities. Charanga’s students are joined by local professional musicians Pako Santiago, Ramon Ortiz, Jaime Roman and Delgado.

For more information, visit http://www.orquestagardel.com and http://music.unc.edu/ensembles/charanga/.

Music department contact: David F. Garcia, (919) 451-3604, daga@email.unc.edu

Orquesta GarDel contact: Eric Hirsh, (919) 824-8182, info@orquestagardel.com

 

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