Teobaldo Power String Quartet Receives Warm, Enthusiastic Welcome At CCNY Concert

Recital is First New York Performance for Canary Island Ensemble

New York, March 20, 2009.—The Teobaldo Power String Quartet received a vibrant, warm, and enthusiastic response from the audience in its first New York concert, which was held in The Great Hall of Shepard Hall at The City College of New York (CCNY).  The quartet, which is based in the Canary Islands and was formed more than a decade ago, consists of Javier Morales López and Irina Sánchez, violinists, Patrick Doumeng, viola, and Johanna Kegel Zamora, cellist.  The New York concert was the first stop on a global tour that would also take the group to Beijing and Tokyo.

The concert was co-sponsored by the Septennium initiative of the Viceconsejería de Cultura of the Government of the Canary Islands, the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute and the City College Department of Music.  Among those present were the Viceconsejero de Cultura of the Canarian Government, Mr. Alberto Delgado, and Korstiaan Kegel, representative of the Septennium Program, a Canary Islands initiative to promote science and culture.  

Also attending were: Dr. Hugo Morales, a member of the CUNY Board of Trustees; Dr. Alexandra Logue, CUNY Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; Eduardo Selman, Dominican General Consul in New York City, Professor Stephen Jablonsky, Chair of CCNY’s Music Department, and Professor Ramona Hernández, Director of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute.  
The concert featured performances by Canarian composers Enrique Guimerá Corbella, Luis Cobiella Cueva, Dori Díaz Jerez, José Brito, Juan M. Marrero, and Teobaldo Power.  The repertoire was new to the audience, which got to experience a very diverse sample of chamber music by Canarian composers.

In her welcoming remarks for the recital, Professor Hernández highlighted the historical and cultural links between the Canarian and the Dominican peoples.  She noted that it is a history still largely untold.  

The Canary Islands were the last place in the Old World Christopher Columbus stopped before arriving on La Española, now the Dominican Republic and Haiti.  In addition, settlers and technicians from the Canary Islands helped launch the sugar industry on La Española in the 16th Century.  The flow of immigrants from the Canary Island to Santo Domingo continued into the 18th Century, and many Dominicans today are direct descendants of Canarians.

Mr. Delgado, the Viceconsejero de Cultura, talked about the very special meaning of the event, referring to it as an expression of the Canarian culture to the rest of the world, and also as a gesture of Canarian reciprocity with Hispanic American countries like Venezuela, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, which in the past had received Canarian immigrants.  

About SEPTENNIUM
In 2008, the Canary Islands Government launched a new plan of action that will be a decisive move in favor of the main sectors linked to innovation: Science and Culture.  Over seven years up to 2014, projects and activities from these areas of knowledge will be given special backing making a difference so that the Canaries achieve a position of eminence in these areas on the international scene.  Septennium is therefore a special effort by the Government over a certain period of time, backing up Culture, Science and Innovation as strategic sectors.  Support for the ‘Teobaldo Power String Quartet’ of The Canary Islands is part of this initiative.  For additional information, visit www.septenio.com.

About The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute
The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, established in 1992, is the premier research institution in the study of Dominicans in the United States.  Its mission is to gather, produce, and disseminate knowledge on the human experience of people who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic; to address the current lack of useful and reliable information concerning Dominicans in the U.S. and to advance research and teaching at the City University of New York focusing on the Dominican people.  The New York State Dominican population is approximately 691,000 according to the 2006 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau.  For more information, visit www1.ccny.cuny.edu/dsi.

About The City College of New York
For more than 160 years, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines.  Over 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; The School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture (SAUDLA); The School of Education; The Grove School of Engineering, and The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education.  For additional information, visit www.ccny.cuny.edu.

MEDIA CONTACT

Ellis Simon
p: 212.650.6460
e: esimon@ccny.cuny.edu