Orquesta La Moderna Tradición

From the first note, you’ll want to jump out of your seat! Orquesta La Moderna Tradición bursts with the sweet yet powerful sound of the Afro-Cuban charanga orchestra, which features violins and woodwinds interlocking with driving afro-Cuban rhythms.

Founded in 1996 as the West Coast’s first ensemble devoted to danzón, an insuperably elegant and foundational 19th century style of Afro-Cuban music and dance, Orquesta La Moderna Tradición is a charanga orchestra with strings, woodwinds and percussion. Delivering driving and gracefully interlocking Afro-Cuban rhythms, the 12-piece group is led by veteran violinist Tregar Otton and legendary percussionist Michael Spiro, a 10-time Grammy nominee who’s also the first and only American ever nominated for a Cubadisco award (the Cuban “Grammys”) in the traditional Afro-Cuban category. While rooted in the dance music that coalesced in the final years of Spain’s dominion over Cuba, the band is also fluent in soaring boleros and surging cha-cha-chás redolent of pre-revolutionary Havana.