The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York’s leading cultural venues, presents Berta Rojas, guitar & Paquito D’Rivera, clarinet and saxophone at the Geffen Stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall and streaming online.

Latin Grammy-winning Paraguayan guitar master Berta Rojas and 11-time Grammy Award-winning Cuban clarinetist and saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera are two of the most celebrated artists on their instruments and beyond. Individually beloved friends of 92NY and kindred musical spirits, touring through Latin America and recording together, they bring their longtime collaboration to our stage. Rojas is widely considered the world’s leading interpreter of the music of her countryman, Agustín Barrios Mangoré. Hear these artists perform duets of music by Mangoré, D’Rivera originals, and other works blending Latin American classical, folk melodies, and jazz in an enchanting evening of music.

Program:

AGUSTÍN BARRIOS MANGORÉ Un Sueño en la Floresta

Choro da Saudade (arr. M. Cardozo Ocampo)

Ca’azapa (arr. M. Cardozo Ocampo)

Maxixe (arr. M. Cardozo Ocampo)

Preludio en Do Menor (arr. M. Cardozo Ocampo)

Las Abejas (arr. M. Cardozo Ocampo)

PAQUITO D’RIVERA Tribute to Dizz

DEMETRIO ORTIZ Recuerdos de Ypacarai (arr. Edin Solis)

Mis Noches sin Ti (arr. Edin Solis)

JOSÉ ASUNCIÓN FLORES Choli (arr. M. Cardozo Ocampo)

NÉSTOR ZAVARCE/ Pajaro Chogui/Galopera

MAURICIO CARDOZO OCAMPO

With a renowned international trajectory, Berta Rojas has been called a "guitarist extraordinaire" by The Washington Post and an "ambassador of the classical guitar" by Classical Guitar Magazine.

Rojas received a Latin Grammy for her album Legado (2022) in the category of Best Classical Album. The same album received another statuette for Best Contemporary Classical Contemporary Composition for Anido's Portrait, written by Sergio Assad. She has been nominated for three other Latin Grammys: in the category of Best Tango Album for History of Tango (2015), recorded with the Camerata Bariloche; Best Classical Album for Salsa Roja (2014); and Best Instrumental Album for Día y Medio – A Day and a Half, a duo with Paquito D'Rivera (2012).

Rojas's warmth and musicality have won the admiration of audiences at major venues worldwide. Among them are 92NY, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Fredrick P. Rose Hall at Jazz at the Lincoln Center in New York; the South Bank Centre and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London; the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; and Flagey Studio 4 in Brussels, where she performed with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra for Belgian National Television.

In 2011, along with D'Rivera, Rojas initiated the four-year tour In the Footsteps of Mangoré, following the travels of Paraguay's Agustín Barrios, pioneer of the classical guitar in the Americas. The duo performed in 20 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, concluding the journey at the National Theater of the capital of El Salvador, the final resting place of the celebrated composer.

Rojas takes audiences on a colorful journey of sound at each concert, embracing new works by composers in diverse genres. In addition to frequent international tours and master classes, she is committed to furthering and disseminating the classical guitar. A particular focus is on promoting the music of her country, Paraguay, as well as Latin American music. Providing ongoing support for the careers of young upcoming guitarists is dear to her heart, with projects such as the Barrios WorldWideWeb Competition, the Ensemble Pu Rory, Instrumentoteca, and Jeporeka, among others.

After initial studies in Paraguay under masters Felipe Sosa and Violeta de Mestral, Rojas continued her studies in Uruguay with Abel Carlevaro, Eduardo Fernández, and Mario Payseé. She completed her master's degree in music at the Peabody Institute under Manuel Barrueco, Ray Chester, and Julian Gray. Rojas recently joined the faculty of Berklee College of Music.

Saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and writer Paquito D'Rivera (El Paq-Man to his friends, colleagues, and fans) is passionate about jazz and classical music, Brazilian music, rumba, tangos, and more. D'Rivera began studying with his father, Cuban classical saxophonist Tito Rivera, as a child, and by age ten was playing with the orchestra of the National Theater of Cuba and studying at the Alejandro G. Caturla Conservatory. At 17 he became a founding member of the Cuban Modern Music Orchestra, while frequently playing clarinet and saxophone with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba. Along with Chucho and Oscar Valdés, he founded the band Irakere, known for its explosive, innovative mix of jazz, rock, classical, and traditional Cuban music. His groups The Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Paquito D'Rivera Big Band, and Paquito D'Rivera Quintet, have been acclaimed around the world.

D'Rivera has recorded more than 30 solo albums. His discography is dedicated to jazz, bebop, Brazilian music, and Latin American styles in general, but he has also successfully ventured into classical music, as a soloist in recordings and concerts with the London and Warsaw Philharmonic orchestras; St. Luke's Chamber Orchestra; and the National (Washington, D.C.), Baltimore, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica National, Simón Bolívar, and WDR symphony orchestras, among others.

In his passion for giving the Latin repertoire greater relevance, D'Rivera has created and promoted compositions for classically trained ensembles and soloists. His chamber work, Merengue, recorded with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 2004. His numerous commissions include music for Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress, National Symphony Orchestra, Turtle Island String Quartet, Ying String Quartet, and the Kennedy Center.

He is the winner of 18 Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, and was the first artist to win in both classical and Latin Jazz categories. Most recently, he took home 2023 Latin Grammys in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category for Concerto Venezolano, written for trumpet player Pacho Flores, and Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album for And I Missed You, Too!, a reunion with Chucho Valdés.

Among his numerous honors he has received the NEA Jazz Masters Award, National Medal of the Arts, and the Kennedy Center's Living Jazz Legend Award. D'Rivera is also the author of the literary works My Sax Life; Oh, Havana!; To Be Or Not To Be, That's the Joke!; and Letters to Yeyito: Lessons from a Life in Music.

He has been artistic director of the jazz program of the New Jersey Chamber Music Society, the Jazz Patagonia of Chile, and from 1996 to date has served as musical director of the International Jazz Festival of Punta del Este, Uruguay.

When: Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 7:30pm ET

Where: Geffen Stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall, 1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128 and also streaming online.

Tickets start at $40 and are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/berta-rojas-and-paquito-d-rivera. Online streaming is also available for 72 hours following the performance.