PUTNEY, Vt. – Next Stage Arts Project presents an evening of global music with Cecilia Zabala and Eugene Friesen at Next Stage on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s an honor to host a virtuosic presence like Cecilia, coming from South America on her US tour,” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “The fact that we get to host her and Grammy Award-winning Eugene Friesen makes the evening a one-of-a-kind performance. We’re excited to be presenting this in our region.”
Cecilia Zabala of Buenos Aires, Argentina is a rising star on the global music scene. With 10 CDs and close to 20 years international touring experience to her credit, Zabala’s music embodies the deep soul of the acoustic guitar, from its Iberian and North African roots, to its versatility as a worldwide voice of modern musical expression.
Cecilia Zabala’s distinction as a performing artist is multi-dimensional. From a technical perspective she is a master singer and instrumentalist, conservatory trained, and a respected guitar instructor in the cosmopolitan center of Buenos Aires. But her musical vision is far from staid. Her music bridges genres from the European classical guitar tradition to Brazilian bossa nova and MPB, from Chilean Nuevo Cancion and its Argentine relative, Nuevo Cancionero, to global jazz. Her music combines many elements of global folkloric music, in a synthesis that bridges so many styles and genres that it can fairly be described as “sui generis,” or without comparison. In one respect, the essence of her artistic identity is as a singer songwriter, but with a poetic rather than narrative character that seems distinctly South American. Her music is dreamlike, and steeped in the deep soul of her native Argentina, and by extension, Spain. In performance, whether solo or with an ensemble, Zabala is mesmerizing, from start to finish. As an instrumentalist, her performances are hypnotic. As a singer and presenter, she’s both seductive, and a bit of a sorceress, or as they say in Argentina, a “bruja.”
Vermont resident Eugene Friesen is active internationally as a cellist, composer, recording artist, and teacher. He has performed on six continents as a soloist and with the Grammy Award-winning Paul Winter Consort. Eugene is an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and on faculty at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. More information on Eugene can be found online at www.celloman.com.