Five Boroughs Music Festival Concludes Spring Season with People of Earth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR Contact: Katlyn Morahan | Morahan Arts & Media 
katlyn@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646.378.9386

Five Boroughs Music Festival 
Concludes Spring Season with People of Earth

May 9 at Bronx Music Hall;
May 12 at Flushing Town Hall in Queens

5bmf.org

New York, NY (April 25, 2024) — New York City’s Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) closes its Spring 2024 Season in the Bronx and Queens this May with the exciting Latin and tropical supergroup People of Earth (PoE).

5BMF presents People of Earth on Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at the Bronx Music Hall followed by a performance on Sunday, May 12, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. in Queens at Flushing Town Hall. The 13 musicians in the PoE supergroup represent a cross-section of the world, boasting an array of some of the best talent from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Canada, Switzerland, Haiti, Greece, and more. With three singers, backed by four horns, three percussionists, two keyboards, and electric bass, the band performs an array of “American Timba Music”—a term coined by People of Earth to describe their distinctive repertoire that seamlessly weaves together influences from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Brazil, and Black American Music. Their set list includes commissioned pieces from Cuban maestros Dafnis Prieto and Pachy Naranjo Jr, along with classic Cuban standards by luminaries such as Cesar Pedroso and Guillermo Rodríguez Fiffe as nods to Haitian Compas and Hip Hop. The performance, delivered in a blend of Spanish, English, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese, is a vibrant celebration of the rich and unifying heritage of the Americas and the Caribbean.

Prior to People of Earth’s performances as part of 5BMF’s festival is the Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. at the Bronx River Arts Center and on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. at Littlefield Performance Art Space in Brooklyn.

Concert Information
5BMF Presents PEOPLE OF EARTH
Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Bronx Music Hall | 438 E 163rd St. | Bronx, NY
Tickets: $15 General Admission 
Link: https://5bmf.org/events/people_of_earth/ 

Program:
“American Timba Music”—music selections with influence from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Brazil, and Black American Music. 

5BMF Presents PEOPLE OF EARTH
Sunday, May 12, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Flushing Town Hall | 137-35 Northern Blvd | Queens, NY
Tickets:  $20 Adult, $10 Student/Senior
Link: https://flushingtownhall.org/people-of-earth-5bmf 

Program:
“American Timba Music”—music selections with influence from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Brazil, and Black American Music.

About People of Earth
People of Earth is a global music collective quickly emerging as one of the United States’ most exciting Latin and tropical bands, with an explosive blend of the music of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and beyond. The 13 musicians comprising this supergroup represent a cross-section of the world, boasting an array of some of the best musicians from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Canada, Switzerland, Haiti, Greece, and more.  

Formed in 2017, the band has performed at acclaimed venues including Disney Hall in LA, The Kennedy Center in D.C.,  The Kimmel Center and Mann Center in Philadelphia, and The New World Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. 

PoE, as the band is often referred to, has a frontline of three singers, backed by four horns, three percussionists, two keyboards, and electric bass.  The band plays original music that blends influences from Cuban Timba and Rumba, Puerto Rican bomba and plena, Haitian Kompa, Brazilian MPB, and American soul, RnB, and hip hop, with songs in Spanish, English, Portuguese, and Creole.  

In 2019 PoE partnered with Musical America’s Conductor of the Year Teddy Abrams and won a grant from New Music USA to commission MacArthur Fellow Dafnis Prieto to compose a concerto for the band and string orchestra.  The piece, entitled Tentacíon was premiered in 2022, with Maestro Abrams conducting,  in a tour that included performances with The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, New World Symphony, and Britt Festival Orchestra.

People of Earth’s debut self-titled album was released in May of 2023 on the Truth and Revolution Records label, and features a guest appearance from acclaimed Brazilian singer Marcos Costa. The album’s nine tracks include seven original compositions by members of the group along with a cover of Djavan’s Te Devoro and Leonard Bernstein’s Mambo.

In addition to being a powerhouse performing group, People of Earth is devoted to education, and its members are veteran teaching artists who have led workshops at such venues as The Kimmel Center, Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony and many more. The band has presented children’s concerts for The Mann Center, 92nd Street Y, and Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. The members of People on Earth are committed to using music as a vehicle for social change, and through sharing their passion for warm-blooded groove music hope to facilitate dialogue, create cultural connections, and spread joy ultimately making the world a better place.

About Five Boroughs Music Festival
Since 2007, Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) has brought virtuosic chamber music performances of the highest caliber to every borough of NYC, cultivating new audiences for the genre and encouraging music lovers to look beyond Manhattan for outstanding performances. Lauded as “imaginative” by The New York Times, “enterprising” by the New Yorker, and “vital” by WQXR’s Operavore blog, 5BMF’s commitment to musical outreach and diverse programming has distinguished it as a standout presence in the New York City arts community from its earliest days.

5BMF’s artist roster of over 500 individual performers and ensembles is comprised of talented emerging artists and distinguished musicians alike, representing a diverse range of musical genres and styles. Its venues are just as eclectic and have included performing arts spaces, cultural centers, and historic New York City landmarks such as Federal Hall, Pregones Theater, Flushing Town Hall, King Manor Museum, Brooklyn Historical Society, the Alice Austen House, and the Staten Island Museum, to name merely a few.

As champions of new music, 5BMF has commissioned over 70 composers and presented world premieres of their works all across New York City, most notably the borough-wide tours of its quinquennial commissioning project, the Five Borough Songbook Volumes I, II and III. 5BMF’s outreach initiatives continue to expand every year and have included program-related interactive lectures and discussions, public masterclasses with world-renowned performing artists, and free public programming. Learn more at www.5bmf.org.

Image at the top of the release courtesy of Krystal Pagán

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