Bandoneon Virtuoso Jofre and his Hard Tango Chamber Band perform at Castleton

Castleton, VA (December 21, 2015) — Castleton in Performance (CiP) will present JP Jofre and the Hard Tango Chamber Band on February 21 at 4 p.m. The first few notes that signal the trapped heat of tango can only be produced by the bandoneon. This special instrument, which looks like an accordion but plays like an organ with four keyboards, will be in the hands of the universally acclaimed bandoneonist and composer JP Jofre. Jofre will be joined by the Hard Tango Chamber Band: violinist Eric Silberger, cellist Amy Kang, double bassist Chris Johnson, pianist Siyi Fang, and Argentinian guest pianist Pablo Cafici. Jofre and his Hard Tango Chamber Band will perform original works and reinterpret Argentinian classics at Castleton. Tickets range from $20 to $40 and the performance will be held in the Theatre House, (664 Castleton View Rd, Castleton VA.) an intimate, state-of-the-art 140-seat proscenium theatre. There will be one intermission. Call the Box Office at 866.974.0767 or visit www.CastletonFestival.org to purchase tickets.

The program primarily consists of work from Jofre’s latest CD, “Manifiesto.” The title track combines musical references to the rock music he loved as a teenager, the tango rhythms he heard growing up in San Juan, Argentina, and his background in chamber music. The delicacy of the bandoneon is showcased on “Sweet Dreams,” a piece written for his young niece. The centerpiece of the program is Jofre’s “Tango Movements,” described by the San Jose Mercury Sun as “sweepingly romantic, elegantly crafted and rhythmically charged.” The Hard Tango Chamber Band will also play several pieces by Astor Piazzolla, the originator of nuevo tango and “the world’s foremost composer of tango music” according to American music critic Stephen Holden.

Named one of today’s leading artists by Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Jofre’s music has also been used as the basis of choreography and a performance by Herman Cornejo, a Principal Dancer for the American Ballet Theatre. A recipient of the National Prize of the Arts grant in Argentina, Jofre has taken his form of hybrid tango to some of the most important venues in Asia, Europe, America and the Caribbean as soloist and composer. In his adopted city of New York, Jofre can often be heard with the New York City Ballet and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Jofre has collaborated with celebrated musicians in a wide range of musical styles, including Pacquito D’Rivera, Kathryn Stott, Gloria Estefan, Symphony Silicon Valley, Santa Rosa Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Argentina, Sacramento Philharmonic, Philippe Quint, Fernando Otero, Westchester Jazz Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Napa Symphony, Ethel, Michael Guttman and Fred Sturm among others.

The JP Jofre Hard Tango Chamber Band is one of New York City’s hottest ensembles. The group performs Jofre’s original compositions, as well as authentic interpretations of legendary composers such as Astor Piazzolla. Starting with the quintet’s debut performance at Joe’s Pub in 2008, Jofre has been invited to appear at many of the most prestigious concert series in the United States and abroad. In recent years, his quintet has appeared at Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Celebrities Series of Boston, Seattle Town Hall, Seoul Art Center, Detroit Institute of Arts among many others. The Hard Tango Chamber Band is: violinist Eric Silberger, prizewinner at the Tchaikovsky Competition and alum of the Castleton Festival, cellist Amy Kang, Double Bassist Chris Johnson, winner of ISB Double Bass Performance Competition, pianist Siyi Fang, and Argentinian pianist-producer Pablo Cafici.

Castleton in Performance (CiP) was the prelude to what would eventually become the Castleton Festival. Originally operating under the umbrella of the Châteauville Foundation, CiP began on that famous Summer Solstice day on June 21, 1997, when the late Maestro Lorin Maazel inaugurated the Theatre House on Castleton Farms (a former chicken coop for 15,000 chicken converted to a “mini-Globe” European-style pocket theatre) together with his renowned friends: cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and pianist Yefim Bronfman.
In the over eighteen years since, CiP has given audiences in Rappahannock County a once in a lifetime multicultural experience of the highest caliber. This thematically diverse series of recitals, chamber music, jazz, world music, theatre, opera, and dance brings internationally-acclaimed artists into our own backyard in the foothills of the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains. Eminent artists have included José Carreras, Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Sir James Galway, the Paris Piano Trio, Carter Brey & Christopher O’Riley, Mariachi Los Camperos Group, Chinese traditional soloists Wu Man and Ma Xiaohui, classical guitarists Pepe Romero and Berta Rojas, and modern and Indian dance companies.

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Photo cutline: JP Jofre and his Hard Tango Chamber Band bring Argentinian tango to Castleton Theatre 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21.