Classical Meets Cuban

Tiempo Libre - featuring selections from their album, O'Reilly Street

SIR JAMES GALWAY, Flute

TIEMPO LIBRE
JORGE GOMEZ, Piano and Musical Director
JOAQUIN (EL KID) DÍAZ, Lead Vocals
LUIS BELTRAN CASTILLO, Saxophone and Flute
CRISTOBAL FERRER GARCIA, Trumpet
TEBELIO (TONY) FONTE, Bass
LEANDRO GONZÁLEZ, Congas
HILARIO BELL, Drums

SIR JAMES GALWAY, Flute
This year Sir James Galway celebrates his 70th birthday. Worldwide events marking this occasion include a Sony BMG CD release in his honor titled James Galway Celebrates 70 and a Lifetime Achievement award from the National Flute Association. Born in Belfast, Ireland, Galway studied flute in London and Paris before embarking on his orchestral career in such prestigious ensembles as the Sadlers Wells and Royal Covent Garden opera orchestras, Royal Philharmonic, and the BBC and London symphonies, eventually taking the position of solo flute with the Berlin Philharmonic. He continuously performs with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, participates in chamber music engagements and popular music concerts and gives master classes. Often featuring contemporary music in his programs, he has commissioned many new works for flute. He was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2008, was named 1997’s Musician of the Year by Musical America and has received Record of the Year awards from Billboard and Cash Box magazines, as well as the Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of Mozart’s concertos. In 1979 Queen Elizabeth II of England made him a member of the Order of the British Empire and in 2001 conferred a knighthood for services to music. He boasts a discography of more than 60 CDs, his newest being O'Reilly Street, on which he performs music from the jazz suites of Claude Bolling with the addition of Afro-Cuban percussion performed by Tiempo Libre. Both he and his wife teach at their International Flute School in Weggis, Switzerland, each summer. This is Sir James Galway’s ninth season at Ravinia, where he made his festival debut in 1981.

TIEMPO LIBRE
Since their formation in 2001, Tiempo Libre has achieved great success in the United States and abroad. The Miami-based group of musicians first formed as a side project in between other musical endeavors (hence the name “free time”) and soon realized they all shared the same goal of bringing timba, a dance-inducing mix of high-energy Latin jazz and the seductive rhythms of son, from their native roots of Cuba to their new home in Miami and the rest of the world. Their debut at Ravinia in 2002 opening for Celia Cruz brought them many new fans, leading them to play again the next summer. In 2003 they played in Hua Hin, Thailand, to great response, and return trips to Asia included sold-out shows at Hong Kong’s Kwai Tsing Theatre, the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas and the 2005 Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia. In 2005 they made their European debut, a tour that included the closing concert of the new Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy. Also in 2005 Tiempo Libre began a recording arrangement with Shanachie Entertainment and released Arroz con Mango, which earned a 2006 Grammy nomination. One year later they released Lo Que Esperabas, which garnered the group a second Grammy nomination. In 2007 Tiempo Libre embarked upon the creation of a new work, Rumba Sinfónica, for symphony orchestra and Cuban band. The composition, a collaboration with the Venezuelan Classical composer Ricardo Lorenz, was commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Ravinia Festival and Festival of the Arts Boca. Last fall they brought an Afro-Cuban beat to flutist   James Galway’s new album, O’Reilly Street. This will be Tiempo Libre’s sixth performance at Ravinia Festival. www.tiempolibremusic.com