JOSÉ ALBERTO “EL Canario”, ISMAEL MIRANDA and DOMINGO QUIÑONES + More @ Lehman Center

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts and GOYA FOODS presents A Special Holiday Celebration: Aguinaldo Navideño with three of salsa’s greatest sonero superstars: 2018 GRAMMY Award winner JOSÉ ALBERTO “EL Canario”, a salsa legend well known for establishing Salsa Romantica, ISMAEL MIRANDA who will perform his universally loved songs spanning several decades, and DOMINGO QUIÑONES with his impassioned live performance that is sure to get the crowd up and moving on Saturday, December 15th, 2018 at 8pm. Also enjoy the exciting dance rhythms of Johnny Olivo Jr. and his Herencia de Plena’s performance of their afro-rich folkloric musical traditions of Puerto Rican Bomba and Plena. Music by DJ Andy Rodriguez. Produced by Lehman Center and José Raposo.

This concert continues the completion of the first phase of renovations at Lehman Center for the Performing Arts. Concert goers will find that the lobbies have been upgraded for ADA compliance with new ramps and carpeting, and the interior of the theater will have new seating, carpeted aisles, and finished flooring as well. The $15.4 million dollar refurbishment of the Center, which is expected to be completed by mid-2019, will also include 5,400 square feet of enlarged space, with a new main entrance and a redesigned box office, plus new administration offices and restroom facilities on the first and mezzanine floors, and an elevator. The Center seats 2,278 people in the concert hall and is the largest of its kind in the borough. Funding for the project is being provided by the Office of the Governor, the New York State Legislature, the Bronx delegation of the New York City Council, and the Office of the Bronx Borough President. Additional funding is being raised with a seat naming initiative, which allows community members to make a personal connection with one of New York City’s most important not-for-profit entertainment venues.

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for JOSÉ ALBERTO “EL Canario”, ISMAEL MIRANDA, and DOMINGO QUIÑONES on Saturday, December 15th, 2018 at 8pm are $100*VIP, $65, $55, $50, and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Friday, 10am–5pm, and beginning at 4pm on the day of the concert), or through online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. *VIP Reception: The Havana Café, Goya Foods and Lehman Center special VIP pre-concert wine & hors d’oeuvres reception will start at 6:30pm. VIP tickets include the reception and the best seats in the house. Sponsored by Havana Café Restaurant and Goya Foods. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Low-cost on-site parking available for $5.

JOSÉ ALBERTO “EL CANARIO” is nicknamed El Canario (The Canary) because of his exquisite voice and amazing ability to use his highly melodious whistling skills as a soloing instrument. He is one of the most successful and respected artists on the salsa music scene with a recording history that includes more than 25 albums. Alberto first received international attention in 1977 as the lead vocalist of the ground-breaking ensemble TÍPICA’73 on recordings that include Salsa Encendida (1978), Charangueando con La Típica’73 (1980) and Into the 80s (1981). After being featured as a vocalist on Louie Ramirez’ 1982 production Noche Caliente, the first album to give popular Spanish ballads an uptempo treatment, José Alberto became a major Latin star. Forming his own group in 1983, he recorded three albums on the Sono Max label titled Típicamente (1984), Canta Canario (1985) and Latino Style (1986). He had an international smash-hit album in 1988 with Sueño Contigo and followed up a year later with Mis Amores, also a chart topper. In the 90s, Alberto recorded several hit recordings including Dance with Me (1991) produced by GRAMMY® winner Sergio George in the (then) new Salsa Romántica style, followed by Llegó la Hora (1992) with the world-wide hit tracks “Nada se Compara Contigo” and “Discúlpeme Señora.” In 1994 he recorded De Pueblo y Con Clase and in ’95, the album On Time, notably featuring a duet with the undisputed Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz, with whom he frequently toured. His 1997 Tributo a Machito featured guest GRAMMY winners Tito Puente and Dave Valentín. In 2011, Alberto’s album Original was nominated for a GRAMMY award and he won a 2013 Latin GRAMMY Award as a featured vocalist on Sergio George Presents Salsa Giants. Recent recordings include Intimamente Salsero Live (2012), Romantico y Rumbero (2014) and 2015’s Latin GRAMMY-winning Best Traditional Tropical Album Tributo A Los Compadres: No Quiero Llanto. In May of 2018, El Canario released his latest album Salsa Con Invitados, and on November 15th, 2018, he was honored with the GRAMMY for Best Traditional Tropical Album for his release with El Septeto Santiaguero entitled A Mi Qué- Tributo a los Clásicos Cubanos.

ISMAEL MIRANDA was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Manhattan’s East Village. He showed an interest in music from a very young age and by the time he was eleven, he was singing and playing the congas with two juvenile groups. He recorded his first hit single, “Rumbón Melón”, with Joey Pastrana’s Orchestra when he was 17, which led to being hired as lead singer by bandleader Larry Harlow. Together they co-authored the Latin Boogaloo album El Exigente (1967), and Miranda headlined the record Orquesta Harlow Presenta a Ismael Miranda in 1968. Over the next five years, he made seven albums with Orchestra Harlow which included many of his original compositions such as “La Revolución”, “El Malecón” and “Lamento Cubano”. Miranda also began performing and recording with the newly formed Fania All-Stars in 1969, and as the youngest artist in the group, he was given the nickname “El niño bonito de la Salsa” (The pretty boy of Salsa). Miranda sang on 17 of their albums and appeared with them in the movies “Our Latin Thing” (Nuestra Cosa; 1972), and “Salsa” (1976). In 1973, along with Frankie Rodriguez, Joe Santiago, Nicky Marrero, Nelson González and Oscar Hernández he formed his own band, the Orquesta Revelación, and released the Salsa masterpiece album Así Se Compone Un Son. Notable Orquesta Revelación album recordings include En Fa Menor (1976), Con Mi Viejo (1976), No Voy Al Festival (1977) and Doble Energia (with Willie Colon, 1980). Several of his hit songs have attained classic status, including “Arsenio”, “Pa Bravo Yo”, “Señor Sereno”, “Lupe, Lupe” and “Se Fue Y Me Dejo”. He has been honored with three GRAMMY nominations, 1 platinum and 8 gold albums, and countless international honors. In September 2014 Miranda released his 41st album, the Latin Grammy-nominated modern salsa production Son 45, which features collaborations with Bobby Valentin, Richie Ray and Roberto Roena. Both the album’s title track “Son 45” and “Bajo, Piano & Bongo” quickly rose to the number one spots on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart.

DOMINGO QUIÑONES, one of the world’s most popular salsa stars, was born in New Jersey and moved when he was four years old to Ceiba, Puerto Rico where he grew up singing salsa, bachata, rumba and Cuban charangas. Returning to New York City as a young teenager, he began his career with Conjunto Nativo in 1981 and also sang coro with Rafael de Jesús, José Alberto, Johnny Rodriguez and Conjunto Clásico before becoming the lead vocalist for Luis “Perico” Ortiz’s orchestra. Going solo, he released his first album Domingo es Mi Nombre in 1990. His second release Pintando Lunas (1992) included a salsa version of “Crazy For You”, and the duet with Tony Vega “Dos Amigos”, earning it the number 2 spot on the charts. Since then Quiñones has had many hits including “Tu Como Estas”, “Mi Negrita Me Espera”, “Soy”, “Si Tu Te Vas”, “No Voy A Dejarte Ir”, “Nos Sobro La Ropa” and “Que No Te Atreves”. Domingo’s 1997 release Se Necesita un Milagro was selected as one of the most influential albums by the National Foundation for Popular Culture of Puerto Rico. His two most recent albums, both released in 2014, are De Vuelta al Amor and El Mensaje: Grands Voces Cristianas with Alex D’Castro and Tony Vega.

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council. The 2018-2019 Season is also made possible through the sponsorships by Goya Foods, TD Bank, Con Edison, the New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund, the Rudin Foundation, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, Havana Café, and the Friends of Lehman Center.