Tango Extravaganza Returns to Honolulu

KAILUA, Hawaii - May 21, 2013 - PRLog -- The thrill of tango music will return to Honolulu on Saturday, June 22 as violinist Ignace (Iggy) Jang partners with pianist-composer Alfredo Minetti and bassist John Gallagher to stage a revival of the popular Tango Extravaganza concert at the Aloha International Piano Festival (AIPF). This entertaining concert at the Hawaii Convention Center begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Liliu Theater. In addition to performances by Jang, Minetti and Gallagher, Tango Extravaganza features an all-star line-up of AIPF guest artists including Jon Nakamatsu, Lisa Nakamichi and Haewon Song – as well as young Honolulu pianist Evan Lin – performing riveting tangos by the great Argentinian tango composer Astor Piazzolla and much more. Tickets for Tango Extravaganza are $30 or $10 for students and are on sale at alohapianofestival.com (http://www.alohapianofestival.com/).

Concertmaster of the Honolulu Symphony, and now the Hawaii Symphony, Jang is also the string program director of the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival on the Big Island of Hawaii. He staged the first Tango Extravaganza in 2011 as part of the Honolulu Chamber Music Series, which received rave reviews from concertgoers and critics alike. For the 2013 revival, AIPF guest artists will perform works by Piazzolla, including Libertango, Milonga del Angel and Decarísimo. Pianist-composer John Bayless will also make a special appearance in performance of Carlos Gardel’s Scent of a Woman tango, which he arranged for the left hand.

During the second half of the concert, Jang, Minetti and Gallagher will delight concertgoers with a rousing selection of tangos such as Atilio Stampone’s Mi Amigo Cholo and Horacio Salgán’s A Don Agustín Bardi, plus Héctor Stamponi’s waltz, Flor de Lino.

Tango Extravaganza is the grande finale concert of the 2013 Aloha International Piano Festival, which runs from June 15 to 22 at the Hawaii Convention Center. The public is invited enjoy family-friendly events such as the Aloha International Piano Competition (free admission), Adult Amateur Competition (free admission), workshops and masterclasses, and the evening concert series that culminates in Tango Extravaganza. To learn more, visit alohapianofestival.com and follow AIPF on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AlohaPianoFestival).

About Alfredo Minetti
Pianist-composer-arranger Alfredo Minetti is an adjunct faculty member in the International Studies Program at Indiana University, Bloomington. With special interest in the performing arts, his areas of research include group creativity, social aesthetics, collective emotion, and the overall role of the arts in the political present. In 2008, he established Minetti Productions, a performing arts company intended to promote the blending of research on relevant cultural topics and the performing arts. In 2010, he created the successful Zero Hour Tango Fest and the creative group known as This is Tango Now.

Minetti has performed and delivered workshops and lectures on a wide array of topics around the country and abroad. He is currently finishing a book on tango, making the case as to why this cultural phenomenon is relevant for people not directly connected culturally with Argentine and Uruguay. As an anthropologist and producer, he is deeply interested in why people like what they like; in what people take out of their artistic experiences; in the cross-cultural role of the arts; and in how to create artistic experiences that compel audiences to open up, getting in touch with a set of complex emotions that are normally dormant or repressed. Minetti holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Indiana University, Bloomington.

More opportunities to hear Iggy Jang and Jon Nakamatsu in concert:

An Evening of Chamber Music with Nakamatsu, Jang and Sauer
Tuesday, June 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Liliu Theater, Hawaii Convention Center
Admission: General $25, Students $10
“An Evening of Chamber Music with Nakamatsu, Sauer and Jang” kicks off the AIPF 2013 concert series and features performances of the wonderful Schubert Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 99, and popular Schumann Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47. Thomas Sauer, concert pianist and faculty member of the renowned Mannes College of Music, makes his Hawaii debut alongside Van Cliburn gold medalist Jon Nakamatsu and violinist Ignace (Iggy) Jang in concert at the Liliu Theater.

About the Aloha International Piano Festival
Founded in 2006 by pianist Lisa Nakamichi, the Aloha International Piano Festival (AIPF) is a non-profit organization committed to educating Hawaii’s children and teachers. AIPF addresses three main needs: the need for music teacher training, the need for low-cost music concerts and music education opportunities, and the need for high-caliber classes and lessons for piano students. AIPF strives to elevate the awareness of classical music in Hawaii while offering people of all ages the opportunity to experience music in a welcoming and educational setting. As a result of volunteer efforts and work to minimize administrative costs, AIPF has consistently offered programs at low and affordable rates for more than seven years. To learn more, visit alohapianofestival.com and follow AIPF on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AlohaPianoFestival).

The Aloha International Piano Festival gratefully acknowledges the Atherton Family Foundation, the Kosasa Family Foundation, and the Music Teachers National Association Foundation for their generous support of education and enrichment programs.