Aldo with Harlem Quartet at John School of the Arts

Harlem Quartet with Aldo López-Gavilán

Melissa White, Violin

Ilmar Gavilán - Violin

Jaime Amador, Viola

Felix Umansky, Cello

Aldo López-Gavilán - Piano

For the 2021-22 season and beyond, Harlem Quartet will once again be sharing the stage with famed Cuban pianist/composer Aldo López-Gavilán, rekindling the joyously energetic concert experience that these five musicians brought to such cities as Seattle, Phoenix, Calgary, Washington, Houston, Denver, Tucson, Rockport (MA), and Chautauqua (NY) in the years between 2015 and 2018.

Harlem Quartet’s performances with Cuban pianist/composer Aldo López-Gavilán over a joyously energetic concert experience. The collaboration reunites López- Gavilán with his older brother, violinist Ilmar Gavilán, who left Cuba at age 14 and went on to co-found Harlem Quartet.

López-Gavilán and the quartet showcase scintillating chemistry in a broad variety of repertoire.

Programs include American jazz standards, bossa nova classics, and, of course, several original compositions from López-Gavilán that take audiences on a journey through Cuba’s myriad musical traditions.

The new documentary Los Hermanos / The Brothers tells the story of Aldo and Ilmar, tracking their shared childhood, their momentous first performances together, and their parallel lives as musicians.

A Patchwork Films production by Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider, it includes concert footage of the quintet, a genre- bending score composed by Aldo, and guest appearances by such legendary musicians as Joshua Bell. Los Hermanos is screening at film festivals worldwide and will be nationally broadcast on PBS in the fall of 2021.