Arturo O'Farrill
“One of our greatest living pianists.”
Born in Mexico and raised in New York, Arturo O’Farrill is a prolific pianist, composer, and passionate promoter of Latin music and its cultural heritage. Arturo is the founder and Artistic Director of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of Afro Latin music through performance, education and preservation.
Throughout his career, he has played with several bands and orchestras all over the world, including his own Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and the Arturo O’Farril Sextet. He has also performed with Ballet Hispánico and the Malpaso Dance Company, and composed pieces for the Evidence Dance Company and the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.
Schedule
Arturo O’Farrill Trio at The Soraya
Fan favorite Arturo O’Farrill returns, this time with a small combo to perform a concert that brings the straight-ahead dimensions of O’Farrill’s jazz chops to Soraya audiences. While known for his Afro-Cuban roots and big band, O’Farrill is equally one of the most masterful and versatile jazz pianists with extensive command and stylistic range.
Ephrat Asherie Dance, Shadow Cities
In a thrilling collaboration between GRAMMY®-winning pianist/composer Arturo O'Farrill and renowned street dancer/choreographer Ephrat Asherie, Shadow Cities blends street dance with Latin jazz in a vibrant, boundary-blurring performance. This dynamic fusion explores identity, connection, and transformation through rhythm and movement. Asherie’s dynamic movement phrases paired with O'Farrill’s innovative compositions invite audiences into a world that celebrates the beauty and vastness of in-between spaces—whether cultural, temporal, or emotional. The collaboration highlights the power of dance and music as tools for personal and collective expression, telling stories of belonging and the transformative potential of creative unity.
A World of Piano: Arturo O'Farrill
ARTURO O’FARRILL, pianist, composer, and educator, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Arturo’s professional career began with the Carla Bley Band and continued as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte.
“New York pianist and composer Arturo O’Farrill has not just continued but renewed that musical discussion with a breathtaking, consistently inventive array of Afro-Cuban jazz over two CDs.”
Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley
The album, recorded in tribute to the late Carla Bley, will feature Blue Palestine, the composer's final commissioned work for O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.
SEE album details
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