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Photo of Luisa Corredor and Ignacio Arango

Luisa Corredor and Ignacio Arango: Sharing Cuban Music in Partnership

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Luisa Corredor, a singer and teacher native to San Diego, and Ignacio Arango, a guitarist and bassist from Cuba, are each talented musicians and educators in their own right. Together, they pack a punch in our World Music in the Schools program, working as a duo in the classroom, sharing songs in Spanish and English, and providing musical accompaniment for the students.

Luisa Corredor and Ignacio Arango

Luisa Corredor and Ignacio Arango

Coming from a musical family, Luisa Corredor was exposed to the arts at a young age and has committed much of her life to the performing arts as a singer, actor, teacher, and producer. She is a force of nature on stage and in the classroom, touching audiences and inspiring students with her powerful, soulful voice. She has studied and performed musical traditions from cultures worldwide. Her repertoire includes English folk songs from the Renaissance era, Flamenco, Middle Eastern, Greek, and Irish songs, as well as Cuban, Mexican, Brazilian, and other traditional music from South America.

Luisa has experience teaching as a private voice instructor and for the Encinitas Union School District as an instructional assistant for bilingual and special education classrooms. She also taught Spanish as a second language at Paul Ecke Central Elementary School.

Ignacio Arango

While growing up in Havana, Ignacio Arango was surrounded by Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and the improvisational craft of the native rumberos and soneros (rumba and salsa artists). His deep musical roots shine through in his rhythmic, tasteful, and skillful playing. When he was 12, Ignacio enrolled in the Guillermo Tomas music conservatory in Guanabacoa (featured recently on NPR) where he studied for 5 years with a focus on guitar. His musical career began during his military service, playing euphonium in La Banda Música del Estado Mayor.

Upon demobilizing, Ignacio’s musical career blossomed. He was the bassist for “Show Tropicana” in Cuba for ten years, with which he toured Italy, Mexico, and Monaco. Ignacio has played guitar and bass with a number of diverse bands and artists, including Fusión 4, La Orquesta de Radio y Televisión, Kokopelli Latin Jazz Ensemble, Gilbert Castellanos’ La Conciencia, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Carlos Washington & Giant People, and many others.

Since 2006, Ignacio has dedicated his attention to performing folklore jazz with his family band, Los Hermanos Arango, with whom he continues to perform.

Juan Carlos Blanco: Afro-Cuban Music and Dance

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The Center for World Music is delighted to profile World Music in the Schools teaching artist Juan Carlos Blanco.

Juan Carlos is an inspiring dancer/teacher whose creativity and knowledge is internationally noted. He is also a humble man and world class performer.

—Dolores Fisher, Educator, Blogger, Poet, Pianist

In his exuberant Afro-Cuban movement and music classes, Juan Carlos Blanco enjoys transmitting cultural knowledge of his ancestors through engaging community activities that focus energy and express joy. It’s hard not to have a smile on your face and a bounce in your step when visiting his classroom. At the same time, his teaching is not only about fun. Whether it’s dancing or drumming, for him it is also important to take the time to explain and convey historical and cultural context. This, he believes, allows students to gain a well-rounded appreciation of the new skills and art form(s) they are learning.

Juan Carlos was born and raised in Havana, Cuba, where he performed with several professional companies for over 15 years before coming to the U.S. In his youth, he began his performance career with the folkloric arts groups Cumballe and Oba Ilú in his hometown of Guanabacoa, a community of Havana known for its rich Afro-Cuban cultural traditions. He later joined one of Cuba’s most renowned folkloric companies, Raices Profundas (Deep Roots), soon becoming lead male dancer and soloist and touring Latin America and Asia.

Juan Carlos’s desire to deepen his knowledge and cultural expression inspired his involvement with several diverse art groups in Havana. He performed with Teatro de la Havana in a number of theatrical plays including “De Mi Tierra Vengo,” “Maria Antonia,” “Santa Camila de la Havana Vieja,” and “Requip por Yarini” with Arte Popular Theatre Company. He also spent several years working with the Franco-Haitian company Ban Rra Rrá as percussionist and instructor of Afro-Cuban dance.

While in Cuba, he was charged with the responsibility of training both professional Cuban dancers and educating foreign students through the Instituto Superior de Arte and the Escuela Nacional de Arte. He served as artistic director for the folkloric ensemble Arawe that toured Peru in 1997. He also choreographed several productions in Havana, including Afro-Peru, a collaboration with Peruvian singer Argelia Fragoso, and “Trilogia,” produced with Raices Profundas.

Since coming to the United States, Mr. Blanco has been featured in various Afro-Cuban productions in the California area, as dancer and guest choreographer for groups such as Olorun, Alafia, and Taifa. Most recently was the musical director for Onstage Playhouse’s 2021 production of “A People’s Cuban Christmas Tale.”

In 1998 Juan Carlos founded Omo Aché Cuban Cultural Arts, a San Diego-based organization dedicated to preserving and presenting Cuba’s rich cultural heritage of music and dance. With Mr. Blanco as its artistic director, the Omo Aché Afro-Cuban Music and Dance Company performs in schools, universities, and multi-cultural venues throughout California.

 

Juan Carlos Blanco in class at Integrity Charter School, National City, CA

 

Mr. Blanco has traveled throughout the United States teaching master workshops in Afro-Cuban percussion and dance. In the San Diego area, he has taught through community classes and institutions such as UCSD, Palomar College, Grossmont College, San Diego City College, and Cal State San Marcos. For many years, he has dedicated himself to teaching kindergarten through 8th-grade students at King-Chavez schools as well as students in the Sweetwater Union High School District. In Tijuana, Juan Carlos has also taught percussion and dance to elementary students at Escuela Primaria Miguel Guerrero, Primaria Guadalupe Victoria, and other schools through WorldBeat Center’s bi-national cultural exchange partnership program with I.M.A.C. (Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura). His students have presented their work at community celebrations and festivals throughout the region.

Currently, under the auspices of the CWM’s World Music in the Schools program, Juan Carlos is teaching a residency in Afro-Cuban dance at the San Diego French American School. We are proud to have him in our roster of distinguished teaching artists.

Enjoy this glimpse into Juan Carlos’s life as an artist, a rough cut of a documentary by Lili Bernard:

Mark Lamson: Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian Drumming

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The Center for World Music would like to recognize Mark Lamson for his  dedication as an outstanding teaching artist in residence for World Music in the Schools.

Mark LamsonCenter for World Music teaching artist Mark Lamson is a highly acclaimed percussionist, ensemble director, recording artist, producer, educator, and one of San Diego’s best-recognized authorities on Cuban and Brazilian drumming and percussion. As a valued instructor in our World Music in the Schools program, he has taught the exciting rhythms of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian drumming, communicating concepts in music, math, collaboration, and culture to hundreds of San Diego school children in his classes.

Mark has seven recordings and countless performances to his credit. He is known for his professionalism, expertise, and experience in playing a broad range of musical styles, and for assembling ensembles featuring top-notch talent. While Mark’s repertoire includes R&B, rock, Latin jazz, New Orleans brass band, funk, and hip hop, his true passion lies in fusing the popular and traditional music of Brazil and Cuba, with modern American and Latin American styles.

Based in San Diego, California, Mark is the director and lead percussionist for Sol e Mar, a dynamic Brazilian/Latin music collective which he co-founded in 1985. Sol e Mar can deploy anywhere from 3 to 50 performers, ranging from a bossa nova jazz trio to a full drum bateria replete with Brazilian samba dancers in full Carnaval regalia. In 1994, Sol e Mar won “Best Latin Band” at the Second Annual San Diego Music Awards.

Mark Lamson at Bird RockMark is an adjunct faculty member at San Diego State University and has also taught at Santa Clara University in San Jose, California, at California State University Long Beach, and at Palomar College. He is a sought-after workshop leader and lecturer, and has been invited to teach and speak at institutions of learning across the United States and around the world.

Check out Mark’s website at https://marklamson.com/.

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