Miguel Romero Ensemble to Perform at UNCA October 5

Miguel Romero

Cuban jazz funk takes center stage when the Miguel Romero Ensemble performs in concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, at UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. The event is part of UNCA’s weekend-long Founders Day and Family Weekend celebration.

The Chucho Valdes Quartet was originally scheduled to perform on October 5. The group’s fall tour has been cancelled because of travel difficulties. According to Valdes’ manager, Scott Southard of International Music Network, "A change in procedural policy on FBI security clearances put in place in late August under the Homeland Security Act has caused Valdes’ visa approval to be delayed. A backlog of clearances at the FBI has resulted in an unprecedented delay in receiving approvals."

Romero and his mulicultural ensemble are based in Atlanta. They headlined the 2002 Colorado Springs Jazz Festival and performed at the 2001 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Their current CD, "Cuban Jazz Funk," was voted one of the year’s top 10 CDS by JazzUSA.

Romero, a composer, pianist and producer, was born in Cuba and moved to the United States at age 10. He studied at the famed Harlem Jazz Mobile and at Lehman College in the Bronx. He also studied the Schillinger System of Musical Composition with Bob Biano and big band arranging and film scoring with Don Sebesky. Latin style Magazine said, "Romero joins the ranks of revered masters Chucho Valdes and Danilo Perez."

Romero will also hold an Afro-Cuban percussion workshop at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, at the YMI Cultural Center, 39 South Market St., downtown Asheville. General admission is $10 at the door, $7 for YMI members, $5 to area students with ID or free to UNCA students. Space is limited.

Tickets to the concert are $18 general admission. Tickets may be purchased between 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the UNCA Office of Student Life, Dining Hall room 226, and may be charged by phone by calling 828/232-5000 during the same hours. General admission tickets are also available from Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe, 55 Haywood St., downtown Asheville.

For a brochure of the UNCA 2002-03 Cultural and Special Events season and for more information, call 828/232-5000.

Media Contacts:

• Bunny Halton Subkis, UNCA Assistant Director of Student Life/Cultural Events, 828/251-6674
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526