Our talented friends from Berklee School of Music have planned a series of lunchtime concerts highlighting Latin music to mark this special month. Concerts run from September 17 to October 1, Monday through Friday, weather permitting.
MEET THE MUSICIANS
Estefanía Núñez Villamandos:
Estefanía Núñez Villamandos is a pianist, composer, arranger, and educator born in Havana, Cuba. She started studying music at the age of 6 and graduated from the National School of Music with a performance degree. Nowadays, she is a current student of Berklee College of Music, doing a dual-degree in Film Scoring and Performance and a minor in Music Production & Engineering.
Estefania is a member of the band Mestizas, a musical group, specialized in the fusion of flamenco, jazz, and various Latin American and Caribbean folklore genres, where she plays the piano, sings and arranges the music. Pianist of the band The Timba Messenger, a group where Cuban music and Latin jazz are pillars in the repertoire.
In 2015, she was selected by Salomón Gadles Mikowsky, Professor of the Manhattan School of Music, to perform at the 3rd Meeting of Young Pianists, a prestigious piano festival hosted in Cuba since 2013. Estefanía has had the honor to work perform with many distinguished artists such as Miguel Núñez, Aldo López Gavilán, Ernán López-Nussa, Aida Cuevas, Yaroldy Abreu, Osmany Sánchez, Reinaldo Melian, Sergio Félix Rabeiro, Sidy Maiga, among others.
In 2016, she won the full-tuition scholarship at Berklee College of Music. She has had the opportunity to expand her musical horizons, from scoring films until the experiences of performing and learning many different styles of music from all around the world. Among these are Jazz, Flamenco, Brazilian Music, Greek Music, Cuban Music and Latin Jazz Music.
Zahili Gonzalez Zamora
Zahili Gonzalez Zamora's musical career path and thirst for constant professional growth brought her on a long professional journey from Cuba, to Canada, to Southeast Asia, to the U.S.A.
In 2017, she graduated from Berklee College of Music, summa cum laude, with a dual-degree in Jazz Composition and Jazz Piano Performance. In September of 2019 she joined the Piano Dept. at Berklee.
Zahili has written and arranged pieces mostly within the jazz genre. Her rich musical background, career experience and extraordinary improvisation skills render her a leader in the modern Latin jazz idiom and an influential, emulated musician, mostly among her female peers.
Her Afro Cuban Jazz Trio, MIXCLA, features new original tunes and arrangements by her, which have quickly turned the attention of major agents locally and internationally. The trio has since headlined at the 59th Monterey Jazz Festival, the 2016 Stave Sessions, by Celebrity Series of Boston, the 2015 Montreal International Jazz Festival, Scullera's Jazz Club in Boston 2018 and 2020, and other highly respected venues and Festivals. With her trio MIXCLA, Zahilia's newly released album has thus far advanced in the world of Jazz, adding to her accolades two nominations to the Boston Music Awards, 2018 & 2019, under the Jazz Group category, and a finalist place at the DC Jazz Prix Competition, in Washington DC.
Other accomplishments as a composer include, the Duke Ellington and the Wayne Shorter Awards for her outstanding creativity and musicianship, and the 40th annual Downbeat music award, 2017, under the Outstanding Performance category.
Harold Charon
Harold Charon is a Pianist, Composer, and Performer from Havana, Cuba, based in Boston, MA. He began piano lessons at 5 years old. His education was primarily classical, Latin Jazz, and Jazz. In 2012, he was selected as a student of the National School of Music to play on a tour around Canada at the "Halifax Jazz Festival." In 2014 Harold got invited to play and study at Stanford Summer Jazz Camp, where he received training from Taylor Eigsti and Chick Corea.
Harold has worked with different bands such as Leo Vera, La Cruzada, Los Clasicos, and others. In 2016, he joined Janio Abreu and Aire D' Concierto, where he worked as pianist and composer for Ruy Lopez-Nussa y La Academia. Now he is finishing his studies at Berklee College of Music, majoring in Jazz Composition and Performance.