Latin Fusion – Sweet Plantain String Quartet
Staff Reports
Hailing from the South Bronx, New Jersey, and Venezuela, the Sweet Plantain String Quartet gives voice to a contemporary, urban, and Latino sound that is rooted in improvisation. Sweet Plantain works to weave the possibilities of improvisation into classical music by arranging existing pieces and writing original compositions that contain improvised sections, while making use of extended percussive techniques—some of them original creations—to best showcase the rhythmic vitality characteristic of Latin music.
The musicians studied at world-renowned conservatories and have years of experience performing and improvising classical, jazz, and Latino genres.
Violinist/trombonist Eddie Venegas of Caracas, Venezuela, who graduated from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, is a composer and regular player on the New York City freelance jazz, classical, and Latin music scenes, and can be seen in the Jennifer Lopez/Marc Antony movie, El Cantante.
Violinist Romulo Benavides, also a Venezuelan, graduated from The
Julliard School and is a frequent soloist with major orchestras. He has
performed in master classes for Itzhak Perlman at Brooklyn College and
for Peter Winograd at The Aspen Music School.
Violist Orlando Wells, a New Jersey native who studied at S.U.N.Y.
Purchase and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, has held
concertmaster chairs for the Orchestra of the Bronx and the Bronx Opera.
He has also collaborated with such stars as John Legends, Mariah Carey,
Dionne Warwick, and Kanye West.
Cellist David Gotay, born in the Bronx, is a regular performer with
orchestras across the country as well as at Carnegie Hall and the White
House. He has also collaborated with such artists as Alicia Keys, k.d.
lang, and Mannheim Steamroller.
Highlights of the Quartet’s past projects include a 2009-10 tour of
Russia with renowned cellist Borislav Strulev, including a performance
in Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow; European engagements with virtuoso
pianist & composer Matt Herskowitz, who was featured on the
Grammy-nominated album The Swing of Christmas by Barry Manilow, and
whose playing can be heard on the acclaimed Grammy-nominated film, The
Triplets of Belleville; and recording with renowned composer Ryuichi
Sakamoto on his score for the major motion picture, Silk, starring Keira
Knightly and Alfred Molina.
In addition to its multi-faceted fusion in the world of music, the
group’s commitment to musical education, in particular that of New
York’s urban youth, has found Sweet Plantain designing and running a new
strings program at the St. Ignatius School located in the South Bronx,
one of the most underserved neighborhoods in the country. They have
designed the curriculum to empower the students through musical forms
representative of their community’s cultural heritage, while at the same
time exposing them to classic Western forms.
Sweet Plantain String Quartet will perform live at the Diana Wortham
Theater February 19. Adult tickets are $30; seniors $28; students $25;
student rush tickets (with valid ID) on the day of the show $10). For
more information call the box office at (828) 257-4530, or visit
www.dwtheatre.com.
