Presented by the Latin American Music Center
An evening of rumba, bomba, plena, and salsa music hailing from Puerto Rico and Cuba with featured guest Alberto “Beto” Torrens.
The Latin American Ensemble will perform and evening of music hailing from Cuba and Puerto Rico. The concert will highlight the percussion traditions of Cuba through the rhythms and songs of Palo and Rumba, led by guest artist Beto Torrens. Continuing to trace the influence of Bambula in the Caribbean, the ensemble will perform Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba songs set to the rhythms of Sicá, Yubá, Holandé, and Seis Corrido. The concert will end with a set of salsa and plena music featuring music by Cuban and Puerto Rican icons such as Eddie Palmieri, Cheo Feliciano, Orquesta Aragón, Rafael Cortijo, and Ismael Rivera.
About the Director
Andy Miller is lecturer in music in percussion at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, with an emphasis in Latin jazz and Afro-Latin percussion music. An engaging performer and passionate educator, he navigates the diverse world of percussion with technical and musical precision across a broad range of artistic practices. Fostering a deep interest in the percussion music of the African diaspora, Miller has studied with master percussionists in the United States and internationally. A Fulbright grant recipient, Miller studied Afro-Colombian currulao, cumbia, and bullerengue in Colombia with La Wey Segura, Francis Lara, and Emilsen Pacheco, later returning on a Presser Graduate Music Award to study joropo music with Fernando Torres Ramirez. Miller conducted field research in Brazil with Jorge Alabê for his doctoral project, “The Language of Drumming in Afro-Brazilian Candomblé Ketu.” His study of bomba percussion, song, and dance took him to Puerto Rico to study with Beto Torrens, Marién Torres, Rafa Maya, and Hector “Coco” Baréz. He studied Guinean mande drumming with Bolokada Conde and Afro-Cuban folkloric and popular percussion with Michael Spiro. Miller also champions percussion art music by Latin American composers, including a performance of Ricardo Lorenz’s Venezuelan maracas concerto Pataruco with the Jacobs School’s University Orchestra. Commissions include Maria José by Luis Fernando Sanchez Gooding, Silent Surface by Rafael Llanos, and Monologue IV: Bilingüismo by José Martinez. His commitment to new music has led to residencies with the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival and the Atlantic Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble. His collaborations with choreographers as a composer/performer have premiered in New York City, throughout the Midwest, and internationally. Miller served as music director of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Dance Department (2017-24), accompanying classes in styles including modern, ballet, West African, and Afro-Latin dance. He previously taught percussion at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Olivet Nazarene University, and Bembé Drum and Dance. Miller earned degrees from IU (D.M.), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (M.M.), and Wright State University (B.M.).