Mary Lou Barrera Presents...

February SLHW Meeting
Featuring: Mary Lou Barrera
Monday, Feb. 14
Barnes and Noble, San Pedro Crossing
7:30 p.m.

Mary Lou Barrera will conduct a talk on Public Speaking for Today's Writers. She will walk you from the all important call from your agent to the accolades you will receive once your speech is done.

It is not a simple thing to give a speech as everyone knows; how you prepare is one of the most important factors. Throwing in a barrage of words is not one of them. There are six steps to a successful conclusion. Mary Lou will give you an overview of each step in a fun, demonstrative class-like setting.

Mary Lou was trained in public speaking by instructors from the military. She was attached as a volunteer during the Desert Storm conflict to the 90Th Army Reserve Command. She was instrumental in helping to train a core of women volunteers, and later helped organize husband and wife teams to travel through a five-state area to help form Family Support Groups. She would instruct the group leaders to become advocates for the families left behind while their spouses were at war.

During her tenure at Kelly AFB, while assigned to the Distribution area, she became the Hispanic tour lecturer for visiting dignitaries and military personnel from various South American, Central American and European countries. As time went by, she acquired a modicum of proficiency and became a bilingual tour speaker for several of the buildings in the Distribution area.

Mary Lou advises: When you attend a lecture, you are not expected to become a polished professional speaker. You are not expected to gain perfection through this lecture. Expertise is gained through years of study and application of your knowledge to your area of study.

Book Review: A Good Long Way

I hope you enjoy my review of the book, A Good Long Way, that appears in today's San Antonio Express-News.

Voices de la Luna Submission Guidelines

Voices de la luna’ magazine and Maria Gabriela Madrid (International Editor) invite you to submit your poems for further consideration to Maria Gabriela Madrid’ e-mail.

The poems must be written in a length maximum of 28 lines or less, and they must be written in Spanish accompany by their translation in English, or written in English accompany by their translation in Spanish.

If you are chosen, you will be notifying via e-mail.
Good luck everybody, and looking forward to receiving your poems.

Sincerely yours,
Maria Gabriela Madrid.
e-mail: mariagmadrid@yahoo.com


La revista Voices de la luna y Maria Gabriela Madrid (Editora Internacional) invitan a que envíen sus poemas para consideración futura a su e-mail personal.

Los poemas deben tener una longitud máxima de 28 líneas ó menos. Estar escritos en inglés con su respectiva traducción al español ó estar escritos en español con su respectiva traducción al inglés. En caso de ser elegidos,se les notificará vía e-mail.

Buena suerte a todos, y espero recibir pronto sus poemas.

Atentamente,
María Gabriela Madrid
e-mail: mariagmadrid@yahoo.com

Carol Cisneros

From the San Antonio Current:

Carol Cisneros: Falling
Saturday at 1-4pm
Ends Saturday, January 29

Guitarist, jazz vocalist, composer, educator, writer, and visual artist Carol Cisneros presents Falling, a series of brightly colored paintings that incorporate fragments of torn musical notation, fabric scraps, product labels, and "bubble eyes."

Critic's Pick

A few weeks ago, artist and musician Carol Cisneros performed a “21st-century jazz sonata” with Jay Fort’s Nuclear Hamsters (Chuck Glave, George Prado, and Joe Gonzalez) at the opening reception for Falling, a survey of her music and art career currently on view at Bihl Haus. Although Falling (which is also the title of her new CD) deals with serious themes (growing older, opportunities lost and found, and — in her music at least — the heroes and victims of September 11th), exotic colors (“aquamarine,” “pink flamingo,” and “electric lime” are all on the artist’s palette), “child-like joy,” and unexpected elements like fabric scraps, foil, torn bits of musical notation, and “jiggly plastic bubble eyes” add whimsy to Cisneros’ richly textured paintings. On Saturday, Cisneros, who’s shared stages with the likes of Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, will shed light on 20 years in the business of blurring the lines between what’s seen and what’s heard. Free, 2pm, Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg (inside the gates of Primrose at Monticello Park), (210) 732-3502, http://www.bihlhausarts.org/

2011 NACCS-Tejas Book Award

Read the NewsTaco Book Review

Announcing the 2011 NACCS-Tejas Book Award Recipient
by Aztlan Libre Press

PRESS RELEASE

The winning entry and recipient for the 2011 NACCS-Tejas Book Award is Dr. David Montejano who is Professor at the University of California, Berkley. The 2011 NACCS-Tejas Book Award is given in recognition for his superb original history, Quixote’s Soldiers: A Local History of the Chicano Movement, 1966-1981 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010). On behalf of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) Tejas Foco and its NACCS-Tejas Book Award Committee we congratulate Dr. Montejano for his excellent scholarship in furthering our knowledge and interpretation of the Texas Mexican community’s experience.

Presentation of the 2011 NACCS-Tejas Book Award will occur at the annual NACCS-
Tejas Regional Conference at South Texas College, February 24-26, 2011. The formal award presentation will be made on Friday, February 25, 2011, at the scheduled 12 noon luncheon in the Cafeteria, Building H, South Texas College.

For additional information regarding the conference, please review the materials at:

http://www.naccs.org/naccs/Tejas_EN.asp

Contact: Dr. Lorenzo García
Chair, 2011 NACCS-Tejas Book Award Committee
Department of Dance & Theatre, University of North Texas
Tel. 940.565.2446
E-mail: garcia@unt.edu

Maria Grabriela Madrid to be honored in Houston

Congratulations to fellow member Maria Gabriela Madrid, selected by Sucesos, the (Houston) Newspaper of the Hispanic Community, as a "Woman of the Year 2010" for her "outstanding and inspirational work as (a) writer."

Gaby will receive her award during Sucesos' 4th annual "A Tribute to Hispanic Women" at the Houston Norris Center on Wednesday, March 9 at 11:30 a.m.

Voices De La Luna

From Gaby Madrid:

(Here) is the recent voices de la luna magazine.

January issue

http://www.voicesdelaluna.com/coverpage.html

Voices de la Luna
www.voicesdelaluna.com






After clicking on the painting,go to "select poems" and then "Poems IV" to read poems written by venezuelan writers (Antonieta Madrid, Carmen Cristina Wolf and myself (Maria Gabriela Madrid) Also,in the same issue, go to "Fiction" and then "From novel" to read an article I wrote about Mario VargasLlosa.
The magazine itself is great. Take the time to read it all.You will love it.

Dominguez eBook: Death of Harry Stubbs and Other Stories

From Founding Member, Gil Dominguez:

If anyone is interested, I told you about my new online book, "The Deaths of Harry Stubbs and Other Stories" on the Barnes and Noble site. Well, you can download the NOOK ebook reader software for free to your PC, so you don't need to have a NOOK reader, which costs about about $150.

You can also use an iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Android Smart Phone. Anyway,downloading the software is easy. If anyone is interested or needs more info, please let me know.

He is a link to download the eBook: Death of Harry Stubbs and Other Stories

Las misiones de los Jesuitas en Sonora

La Casa de España, el Ateneo de San Antonio y el Museo Alameda

le invitan a una charla sobre

“Las misiones de los jesuitas en Sonora, Nueva España, en el siglo XVIII”

a cargo de

Florence Weinberg, Ph.D.

Nacida en Alamogordo, Nuevo México, Florence Weinberg se inclinó desde muy niña por la poesía y la novela. Trabajó y viajó por Canadá, Alemania, Francia y España. Después de obtener el doctorado, fue profesora en las universidades de St. John Fisher y de Rochester, en el estado de Nnueva York, y Trinity, en San Antonio. Ha publicado libros escolares, numerosos artículos y varias novelas. Después de sus investigaciones sobre las misiones jesuíticas en la Nueva España, ha escrito tres novelas históricas y de intriga que tienen como protagonista al jesuita alemán del siglo XVIII, Ygnacio Pfeffertkorn: “The Storks of La Caridad” (2005), Sonora Moonlight” (2008) y “Sonora Wind” (2009)).

Después de su plática, la doctora Florence Weinberg dedicará sus libros a los interesados.

El martes, 18 de enero, a las 6:30 de la tarde

en el Museo Alameda
101 South Santa Rosa

Aparcamiento libre a partir de las seis en los alrededores del museo

La entrada es gratis

Carol Cisneros

Dear Friends of Bihl Haus Arts,

Music and art, art and music, for San Antonio native CAROL CISNEROS, who has been making both all of her life, there are no boundaries between the two. Come celebrate both with us at Bihl Haus on Friday, January 14, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at the opening reception of Falling. The evening includes a special premiere performance at 7:30 to introduce Carol's new CD “Falling,” a 21st Century jazz sonata, with Jay Fort’s Nuclear Hamsters, including Chuck Glave, George Prado, and Joe Gonzalez. (The CD will be available for purchase ($15).)

Carol’s saturated palette, colors on the retro side—Aquamarine, Caribbean Green, Electric Lime, Magenta, Pink Flamingo, Scarlet, Wisteria . . . the best in Crayola’s box of 64—combines with a rich surface made up of fragments of torn musical notation, foil and fabric scraps, and other crinkled bits. Splintered poetry and jazz refrains tumble in and out of one another, making acrobatic leaps across these confettied paper and canvas grounds. Jiggly plastic bubble eyes, glued here and there, inject an eerie humor. Smaller works on paper, also brilliantly colored, round out the exhibit.

Joy, a child-like joy, and pain too—of falling, of growing older, of opportunities lost and found—reverberate through this body of work and echo in the original music that Carol will perform on opening night. The hauntingly beautiful centerpiece of this performance, titled “Falling,” namesake of the exhibit, is dedicated to the heroes and victims of September 11, 2001.

A little more about the Artist: An accomplished guitarist, jazz vocalist, composer, educator, writer, and visual artist, Carol holds an MA in Music from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University). She began her professional musical career at the age of 17 at San Antonio’s Hilton Palacio del Rio. She went on to perform at the Monterrey Pop Festival with Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. She has sung her way across Texas, spent three years in Las Vegas, and played with Jay Fort’s Nuclear Hamsters in Europe. She has exhibited her artwork at venues throughout San Antonio, including San Pedro Springs, One9Zero6 Gallery, and Bihl Haus Arts. Debilitating hip surgeries in 2003 almost put an end to her public career, but continuing to make art and music in her studio has, as she states, “literally saved my life.” Through this exhibit and performance, the artist celebrates the power of the arts to heal.

We hope to see you there!

Kellen

P.S. Coming in February: the 4th Annual On & Off Fredericksburg Road Studio Tour, scheduled for Feb. 19th and 20th, rain or shine. More soon!

P.S.S. Please free as always to forward this mail to friends and relatives.

Bihl Haus Arts is a not-for-profit contemporary art gallery located at 2803 Fredericksburg Road inside the gates of Primrose at Monticello Park Senior Apartments. Bihl Haus Arts is the only professional non-profit art gallery on the premises of senior affordable housing in the U.S. The gallery, open Fridays and Saturdays, 1-4 pm, is made possible with the generous support of The Potashnik Family Foundation and Primrose. This exhibit is funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts through the San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs.

Kellen Kee McIntyre, PhD
Executive Director
Bihl Haus Arts
P.O. Box 100806
2803 Fredericksburg Rd.
San Antonio, TX 78201
(210) 383-9723 (cell)
(210) 732-3502 (off)
kellenkee@swbell.net
http://www.bihlhausarts.org/
http://www.rxartsa.org/
http://www.onandofffred.org/

Monday meeting re-cap

The first monthly meeting for 2011 of the Society of Latino and Hispanic Writers of San Antonio was held on Monday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m., at Barnes and Noble, San Pedro Crossing.

Our featured presenter was Diane Gonzales Bertrand.

Her talk focused on language, specifically ways to use words to create memorable imagery, description, pacing, and tension.

Diane used a couple of her class exercises for practice during the meeting. The exercises were designed to be helpful whether the writer writes in English or Spanish. With a smile, she stated tonight she wouldn’t be the only one talking.

The first exercise was a list of seven words. The member used descriptive phrases to evoke imagery for the words. Diane pointed out that it was interesting to see how each writer has a unique voice. The second exercise was a list of several words. Diane instructed members to pick one word which inspired us and write for 4 minutes to create an image. Halloween was celebrated last fall, but for some reason several members picked the word “cemetery”.

Diane teaches creative writing and composition at St. Mary’s University, where she is Writer-in-Residence. She is the author of twenty novels and picture books for children and teens. A writer since childhood, Diane has also published poetry, essays, and articles about writing. She is a strong advocate for literacy, and presents workshops for writers of all levels at libraries, schools, and community centers.

She’ll return in March to present a workshop on developing and sustaining a longer work, specifically a novel.

Thanks,

Lupe M. Gonzalez
http://lmgonzalez.wordpress.com/
Writing stories by and about Latinas and their lives and loves.
Released Sep 23, 2009 - A Love for Eternity, TWRP, Vintage Miniature Rose
Too Late For Romance? (Debut Book, Jun 2008, The Wild Rose Press)

Just a friendly reminder that the monthly meeting of the Society of Latino and Hispanic Writers of San Antonio will be on Monday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m., at Barnes and Noble, San Pedro Crossing.

Our featured presenter is one of San Antonio's premier authors, Diane Gonzales Bertrand.

Her talk will focus on language, specifically ways to use words to create memorable imagery, description, pacing, and tension. Regardless if you like writing fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, a refresher course on avoiding clichés, and creating memorable lines/sentences is always a great way to start a new year of writing.

Diane will use a couple of her class exercises for practice during the meeting, and they will be designed to be helpful whether you prefer to write in English or in Spanish. Bring a pen or pencil, and if you wish, bring one page of writing to practice a few of the exercises on your own drafts.

Diane teaches creative writing and composition at St. Mary’s University, where she is Writer-in-Residence. She is the author of twenty novels and picture books for children and teens. A writer since childhood, Diane has also published poetry, essays, and articles about writing. She is a strong advocate for literacy, and presents workshops for writers of all levels at libraries, schools, and community centers.

This is a meeting you definitely do not want to miss! See you there!

From Josie Mixon

From Josie Mixon:

Happy New Year My Fellow Poets and Supporters of Poetry!!!!!

It's time to start picking up all those scratch pieces of paper where you wrote all those poems and pieces of poems and transfer them over to your journal or get all fancy and type them up in all your spare time. I expect there might be a few "family related" poems. It's amazing what we can come up with in a moment of passion.

This year I am hoping to coordinate our open mic with the Barnes & Noble Calendar of events so we can try and keep within the same theme. It is not mandatory but it is inspirational. January 24-28 is No Name Calling Week. Although we are not meeting in January I am inviting participants to read prose or poetry during our first open mic venue (February 2nd.) related to this subject. We have all been a part of this whether it was as a victim or a bully or maybe saw it happening and this will give us the opportunity to join Barnes & Noble in their effort to bring attention to this matter. If you are in a school environment please share this information with teachers, students, counselors etc....Also please visit http://www.nonamecallingweek.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/partners/index.html for more information.

February is Black History Month and of course we celebrate Valentine's Day. So we have several subjects to inspire our thoughts. Join us February 2nd at 6:00pm for a fabulous poetry workshop with Jim Brandenburg, followed by open mic with Josie Mixon (me). Our featured guest(s) will present at 8:00pm.

I look forward to seeing each and everyone one of you and I am excited to join Jim Brandenburg in hosting this event. Our thanks to Barnes & Nobel Staff for always supporting poetry by providing us with space, chairs and especially their wonderful hospitality and always making our poetry family feel welcome.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
I will send you updates as they become available. Please forward this email and invite family and friends and if you don't send it to ten people all your relatives are coming over and staying with you for months at a time. Just kidding, I know some of you would welcome it.

Josie Mixon
Jim Brandenburg

SLHW Monthly Meeting featuring Diane Gonzales Bertrand

Just a friendly reminder that the monthly meeting of the Society of Latino and Hispanic Writers of San Antonio will be on Monday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m., at Barnes and Noble, San Pedro Crossing.

Our featured presenter is one of San Antonio's premier authors, Diane Gonzales Bertrand.

Her talk will focus on language, specifically ways to use words to create memorable imagery, description, pacing, and tension. Regardless if you like writing fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, a refresher course on avoiding clichés, and creating memorable lines/sentences is always a great way to start a new year of writing.

Diane will use a couple of her class exercises for practice during the meeting, and they will be designed to be helpful whether you prefer to write in English or in Spanish. Bring a pen or pencil, and if you wish, bring one page of writing to practice a few of the exercises on your own drafts.

Diane teaches creative writing and composition at St. Mary’s University, where she is Writer-in-Residence. She is the author of twenty novels and picture books for children and teens. A writer since childhood, Diane has also published poetry, essays, and articles about writing. She is a strong advocate for literacy, and presents workshops for writers of all levels at libraries, schools, and community centers.

This is a meeting you definitely do not want to miss! See you there!

Awaken the Sleeping Poet

From Awaken the Sleeping Poet at the Twig:

Marian Aitches and Assef Al-Jundi are our
featured readers for January. Come prepared for
some exceptional poetry by these two remarkable
poets, Tuesday night, January 11, at 7:00 p.m.,
at the Twig Book Shop.

A native of San Antonio, Marian Aitches is an award-winning professor whose courses at UTSA focus on American Indian studies, race, gender and nationalism. Fishing for Light, her first collection of poetry, won the 2009 Wings Press Joanie Whitebird Chapbook competition. Pecan Grove Press recently published Ours Is a Flower, her first full-length collection. She is working on a memoir about growing up in Victoria Courts,an early government housing project in San Antonio.

Assef (Lahab) Al-Jundi:
Was born, and grew up, in Damascus, Syria. Attended The University of Texas in Austin, where he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Not long after graduation, he discovered his passion for writing. He published his first collection, “A Long Way”, in 1985. His poetry has appeared in numerous literary publications, and many Anthologies including: “In These Latitudes, Ten Contemporary Poets”, edited by Robert Bonazzi, “Inclined to Speak, An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry”, edited by Hayan Charara, and “Between Heaven and Texas”, edited by Naomi Shihab Nye. His poems were selected in 2009 and 2010, by The Poetry Society of America, for display on Dallas’ DART trains (Poetry In Motion Program), and on San Antonio’s VIA Transit system buses (Poetry On The move program). He currently resides in San Antonio, Texas, with wife Sara, and their two cockatiels Yoda and Princess.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our featured readers will begin at 7:00 p.m. Open mic begins at 8:00,
so bring a poem to share, because Open Mic is where anybody in the
audience can share their poetry. Then, after open mic, our featured
readers will close with an encore poem, each.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Twig Book Shop is the premiere poetry place in San Antonio.
Located at 200 E. Grayson, Ste. 124, San Antonio, TX in the
revitalized historic Pearl Brewery.

Bring yourself; bring a friend; bring a poem!
See you Tuesday!

Host:
Floyd L. Lamrouex
lamrouex@sbcglobal.net
(210) 656-3131

Sandra Cisneros Workshop

From Latinidad® http://www.marcelalandres.com/

SANDRA CISNEROS WORKSHOP
Application Deadline: February 28
Founded by writer Sandra Cisneros, the Macondo Writing Workshop is a
unique gathering of writers working on geographic, cultural, economic,
social, and spiritual borders. For more information, visit
http://www.macondofoundation.org/

SARA presents Jodan Dane

SAN ANTONIO ROMANCE WRITERS are proud to present Jordan Dane’s Master Class in Writing Suspense/Thrillers followed by Judith Rochelle’s Ready, Set, Action – The good, the bad, and the ugly of writing action scenes.

Saturday, January 15, 2011
10am to 1pm
C4 Workspace (in the Community Space)
108 King William Street

$20 for non-SARA members
$13 for SARA members

See the San Antonio Romance Authors website – www.sararwa.net – for additional information.

Space is limited so reserve your spot soon!

Carol Kilgore
San Antonio Romance Authors
VP/Communications

Spanish Group Meeting January 2011

Estimados Compañeros del Grupo de Escritura en Español,

Deseándoles que hayan pasado una muy feliz navidad y que el 2011 los llene de bendiciones y éxitos en las letras.

Les mando este aviso para recordarles que empezamos el año con muchos bríos y con ganas de juntarnos para tener nuestro taller de readcción.

Me he tomado la libertad de mandar estos e-mails en lo que resta del año 2010, tras la misteriosa desaparición de nuestra querida coordinadora Martha (Te extrañamos, amiga!), pero me gustaría que este año venidero nos organicemos de alguna manera para que cada uno de nosotros coordine con anticipación la actividad del mes y podamos enviar el e-mail o ponerlo en facebook (Si ya estamos todos en facebook, podemos formar un grupo para la sección de español de SLHWSA).

En fin, espero que todos se pongan las pilas y vengan con lápiz y papel para planear nuestras juntas de 2011!

Les esperamos en Barnes N Noble de La Cantera el próximo Lunes 3 de Enero 2011 a las 7:30 P.M.

Saludos,

Bertha

P.S. La foto es para que se inspiren y si tienen tiempo traigan algo para compartir

Branson Conference

The following conference information is provided by Mary Lou Barrera via an email she received:

I am a fellow OWFI member and Tulsa Night Writer and just wanted to let you know about an upcoming conference for authors that will be occurring in Branson on January 22nd. I am one of the guest speakers for the event, but the Keynote speaker is Leon Mentzer, who is coming down from Illinois and has been awarded by Writers' Digest 4 years in a row as one of the top resources for authors!

Back in August we had a similar event in Tulsa and the room was sold out! We are expecting the same size crowd in Branson at the end of the month!

The conference is specifically built around Marketing and Promoting your book, including tips for Web sites and even booking and presenting at speaking engagements. In addition to the five sessions of tips and techniques, each attendee will have the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with Leon and the other speakers for specific ideas and information about your book and how to promote it more effectively.

Ultimately the goal of the conference is to help authors in the area with their marketing endeavors. Registration is just $59 until January 15!

We'd love to have you at the event! You can read more about it at: www.LifeAfterPublishing.com

Let me know if you have any questions at all!

Hope to see you there!

~JP

--
JP Jones
Author/Speaker
www.LifeAfterPublishing.com
Author of "Market Yourself: A Beginners Guide to Social Media"
www.MarketYourselfTheBook.com

Selena to be honored with U.S. Postage Stamp

News Release from the U.S. Postal Service:

Five legendary musicians and performers of the Latin sound whose contributions have had a lasting impact on American music —Selena, Carlos Gardel, Carmen Miranda, Tito Puente, and Celia Cruz – will be honored on stamps. Among the distinctive musical genres and styles represented are Tejano, tango, samba, Latin jazz, and salsa. The stamps go on sale in March.

For these stamps, artist Rafael Lopez, of San Diego, CA, painted semi-realistic portraits of each musical artist designed to evoke their personality, vitality, and even their sound. He used a warm palette of colors—from brilliant yellows, pinks, and lime green to rich shades of purple and blue—to suggest the flavor and energy these artists brought to their work. Each musician is depicted in mid-performance. One can almost hear Celia Cruz shout her trademark rallying cry ¡Azucar! (Sugar!) or sense Tito Puente's rhythmic intensity as he performed one of his progressive arrangements on the timbales. Art director Ethel Kessler, of Bethesda, Maryland, says, “My goal was that when you see the stamp, you hear the music.”

Lopez's first project for the U.S. Postal Service was the Merengue design for the 2005 Let's Dance/Bailemos stamp pane, followed in 2007 with the Mendez v. Westminster stamp.

Texas-born Selena Quintanilla-Perez (1971-1995)—known to fans simply as Selena—helped transform and popularize Tejano music by integrating techno-hip-hop beats and disco-influenced dance movements with a captivating stage presence. A Grammy recipient, the “Queen of Tejano” broke gender barriers with record sales and awards. Even after her tragic death, Selena remains an important representative of Latino culture.

A superb and evocative singer, Carlos Gardel (1890?-1935) was one of the most celebrated tango artists of all time. Raised in Argentina, Gardel helped popularize the tango in the United States, Europe, and throughout Latin America through his performances and recordings. “The man with the tear in his voice” also achieved fame as one of the stars of the Spanish-language cinema.

Born in Portugal and raised in Brazil, Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) achieved fame as a samba singer before moving to New York City, where she gained instant celebrity in theater, film, and radio. The “Brazilian Bombshell” appeared in 14 Hollywood musicals and recorded more than 300 songs. Her exotic signature outfit and persona are an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

Born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents, Tito Puente (1923-2000) was a musical virtuoso popularly known as El Rey, “The King”. With dynamic solos on the timbales and orchestral arrangements that have become classics in Latin music, Puente helped bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds to mainstream audiences. He performed for more than 60 years, and his legacy includes more than 140 albums.

A dazzling performer of many genres of Afro-Caribbean music, Celia Cruz (1925-2003) had a powerful contralto voice and a joyful, charismatic personality that endeared her to fans from different nationalities and across generations. Settling in the United States following the Cuban revolution, the “Queen of Salsa” performed for more than five decades and recorded more than 50 albums.