ABOUT HISPANIC CULTURE ARTS
Founded in 2018, Hispanic Culture Arts is an arts education organization that provides a curriculum focused on the classical music and dance of Spain and Latin America. Past and current clients include PS 8 "Luis Belliard" (NYC), Seely Place Elementary School (Scarsdale), New York School for the Deaf, Hispanic Society Museum & Library, Ballet Hispanico, and the Poe Visitors Center in the Bronx.
OUR TECHING ARTISTS:
VICTORIA FEBRER
As an educator, I am committed to the vital role of visual art education as a force for lasting positive social and environmental change. I believe that a critical arts practice empowers us to not only to explore and appreciate the world we live in, but also to share our unique discoveries and points of view with our communities. I was the first instructor of fine art to ever receive the AAC&U K. Patricia Cross Award for Future Leaders in Higher Education.
ANNA TONNA
mezzo-soprano
I am a classical vocalist, teaching artist, and “cultural interpreter” living in Bronx, NY. I love the music of Spain and Latin America and have been incredibly lucky to have performed both historical and contemporary music by composers from these traditions, with colleagues from all over the world.
I am honored to have been a Fulbright Scholar to Spain. This became a defining experience for me. Since then, it has been my personal goal to share what I know and act as a cultural bridge between the Hispanic World and my local community of the Bronx, as well as the five boroughs and beyond!
ANNA DE LA PAZ
Spanish dance artist
I am a Spanish dance artist specializing in classical and folkloric Spanish dances. After living in Spain and studying with such great master teachers as Mariemma and Pedro Azorín, I fell deeper in love with all of the different genres of Spanish dance. I moved to New York City in 1999 and began working with Gabriela Granados and American Bolero Dance Company and later as a freelance artist, performing throughout the New York area at various venues including Carnegie Hall. I have worked
in collaboration with mezzo-soprano Anna Tonna and the Hispanic Society of America concert series in such productions as Music and Dance in the Times of the Duchess of Alba; From Barcelona with Passion: Enrique Granados Centennial; Music and Dance from “A vision of Spain” and “Trio of Paintings: music and dance from 18th-century Spain, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.
PABLO ZINGER
Pianist & Musical Director
Uruguayan-born New Yorker Pablo Zinger is widely acclaimed as a conductor, pianist, composer, arranger, writer, lecturer and narrator, specializing on Astor Piazzolla, tango, Spanish zarzuela, and Latin American music.
He has performed throughout the Americas and in Spain, Russia, Poland, Slovenia, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, Greece, Germany and Norway.
He accompanied Plácido Domingo at Washington’s Constitution Hall, conducted for Paquito D’Rivera’s Carnegie Hall 50th. Anniversary Concert and the Moscow première of Piazzolla’s María de Buenos Aires, narrated Piazzolla’s Pueblo Joven at Tokyo’s Opera City and accompanied legendary Spanish diva Sarita Montiel in NYC.
HANNAH JOHNSON-WALSH
Director of Theatre & Production
Hannah Johnson-Walsh is a stage manager and teaching artist. She is a Master Teaching Artist with Roundabout Theatre Company and the public performances stage manager for Spellbound Theatre. She also serves as the Executive Director of EMIT (Educational Mobile Immersive Theatre). Hannah has stage managed numerous youth productions with organizations such as Broadway Workshop, the West Side YMCA, and NJPAC's Savion Glover Summer Intensive. Hannah holds a BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.S.ED in Educational Theatre from The City College of New York.
JUAN RUIZ
Teaching Artist
Juan Ruiz became involved in music at the tender age of 11. He learned to play Latin American percussion in his hometown of Caldas (Antioquia) in Colombia. At the age of 14 he was handed a clarinet not a saxophone like he wanted. While in Colombia Juan performed folkloric Colombian music, classical music, and Latin American music in various festivals. In 2006 he earned a scholarship to study English and Music in the United States; giving him the opportunity to perform clarinet and saxophone with prestigious groups such as, The Grammy winner Pacifica Quartet, and great musicians as Guinga, Omar Hakim, Toto La Momposina, Oscar Stagnaro, Greg Hopkins and George Garzone, Gregorio Uribe to name a few.
As a composer, Juan has different pieces that were commissioned by New England Conservatory faculty Kenneth Radnofsky and has worked as an arranger for the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble. His recent compositions are being performed in Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, China, Germany and around the United States. One of Juan’s big challenges is to picture his homeland ‘’Colombia’’ in his music but also to create a fusion that is influenced by all the music from Latin America and the American Jazz.
Juan studied at Berklee College of Music with Dr. Shannon Leclaire and George Garzone.
Currently Juan works as a personal assistant for NEA jazz master and 14 time Grammy winner Paquito D’Rivera.
ALBERTO LOPEZ HERRERA
Teaching Artist
Mr. Lopez Herrera is a choreographer, costume designer and maker, and teaching artist with more than 30 years experience in Mexican folk dance. Originally from San Antonio Chiltepec in Puebla, Mr. Lopez Herrera began his studies of Mexican folkloric dance at the age of 12 at the Centro Escolar Benito Juarez de Acatlán de Osorio. Most recently, he completed the National Dance Institute’s intensive Teaching Artist training in New York City. In the U.S., Mr. Lopez Herrera was a dancer and choreographer with several companies working with distinguished choreographers Francisco Nevarez, Daniel Jaquez, and Noemy Hernandez. With great attention to detail, he continues to create traditional costumes used in Mexican folkloric dance. His pivotal role in costuming can be seen throughout the Company’s repertoire. Under his Artistic Direction, Calpulli Mexican Dance Company has performed at noted venues including Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Inside/Out Series), Wortham Center (Houston, TX), Humboldt State University (Arcata, CA), the Kingdom of Bahrain, Penn State Erie, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors, where dance critic for The New York Times Brian Siebert hailed Calpulli a “terrific company.”. A few months later, Mr. Lopez Herrera was named “Star of Queens” by the Queens Courier for his artistic accomplishments and commitment to community arts programming. He was also recognized by Time Magazine in the documentary series “American Voices.” Most recently, Mr. Lopez was Dramaturg and Folk Choreographer for the Off-Broadway production “A Crossing” produced by the Barrington Stage under the Director of Joshua Bergasse, for which they received an Outstanding Choreography award from the Berkshires Theater Critics Association.
OXIL FEBLES
Teaching Artist
Oxil Febles, Afro Puerto Rican (Bomba) dancer, performer, teaching artist, producer, and folklorist born in New York City with over twenty-five years experience as a cultural worker in Puerto Rico and the Diaspora. An educator with an MFA in Dance and a BA in Language Arts. Curriculum designer for recreational out-of-school services focused on BIPOC and Latinx learning communities. Founder and Director of Nandí, the first female Afro Puerto Rican music ensemble in Puerto Rico, which spearheaded a women’s drummer’s movement in Puerto Rico since 2004. An advocate of art activism in young children, creator of safe, inclusive, joy-based learning spaces for participants of all ages. Director and Founder of O Team, Inc. a 501c3 Not-Profit in NYC. Creator of artistic projects under the name of Paso Negro sponsored by Bronx Council on the Arts, National Endowment of the Arts, and other public and private funding in Puerto Rico and New York City to develop Afro Caribbean cultural projects in museums in Puerto Rico and in BIPOC communities in NYC that bridge different agents of change to work on a re-presentation and creating new narratives of BIPOC and Latinx communities in the diaspora.
Email: oteamny1@gmail.com
EVERTON ISIDORO Percussionist
Everton Isidoro was born and raised in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. He began studying percussion in 1999, and he has completed his Bachelors degree in Percussion at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in 2012. Everton has built his career around his love for the rhythms native to his country, specifically those from Northeastern Brazil. Despite his young age, he is already well respected as both a master player and teacher by musicians
world wide. His work in Brazil consists of 10 years as a percussion teacher and musician at Neojibá project with which he has completed many tours in Europe, the US, and South America. He was the main percussion teacher at Espaço Cultural Pierre Verger for 6 years, musician at Orchestra Afro-Sinfônica, the Orchestra Soteropolifônica, Leitieres Leite & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and more. Worldwide, he has played with artists such as Maria Bethânia, Ivete Sangalo, Caetano Veloso, Susana Baca, Carlinhos Brown, Mercedes Sosa, Cecília
Todd, Ramiro Musotto and others. He also performed in more than 75 cities in Brazil with the UFBA percussion Ensemble.
In the United States, Everton has taught workshops at Harlem Samba, Play on Philly, Samba New York, New York Capoeira Center, Filhos de Dunga, Dwana Smallwood’s dance school, the Philadelphia Orchestra's school partnership program, Believe NYC and others. He has been teaching percussion at the Horizons and Ozone summer camps as well as in many public schools around New York City. He is the founder and music director of Mambembé NYC samba reggae group and coordinator of the percussion group Tom de Percussão, and has played with artists such as Andreas Laprida, Julie Eigenberg, Camila Cabello, Jair Oliveira, Arto Lindsay and others.
MAUREEN TERMECZ
Visual Artist
*Biography coming soon*
SEBASTIAN ARMENDARIZ tenor
Born in El Paso, Texas, Sebastian Armendariz is a tenor, actor, content creator, teaching artist, and cancer survivor who is currently based in New York City. Sebastian has been a voice teacher since 2015, and has worked as a freelance producer for classical artists since 2016. Since 2020, Sebastian has made his TV debut, performed in new musical workshops in NYC, and collaborated with the Chicago based non-profit music organization, Hearing In Color, to produce "Latinidad - La gente y la música" a work that highlights the lives and art of Latinx artists in the classical music world. Most recently, Sebastian has performed art song (featuring Spanish repertoire) with Salon 58 and the Federation of the Art Song as well as opera and zarzuela with Richmond County Orchestra. Before 2020, he performed with Indianapolis Opera as a resident artist, the Chautauqua Institution, and Sarasota Opera as an apprentice artist. Armendariz holds a Master of Music degree in voice performance and pedagogy from DePaul University in Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. He is the youngest of five children, a proud uncle, and a lover of sonnets, soccer, and Salsa dancing.
RÓMULA VIANA
Classical Guitar & Percussion
Romulo Viana is an active performer and teacher throughout South America, the US, and Europe. A native of Brazil, Romulo is sought after for his diversity—performing programs that often feature both classical repertoire and Latin American popular music.
Romulo is currently pursuing his Doctorate at Stony Brook University in NYC, under the tutelage of the two-time Latin Grammy nominee and Brasil Guitar Duo member, João Luiz. Romulo now resides in New York City, and in the last years has performed solo concerts across Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the USA, Portugal, Switzerland, and Russia.
