Twilight at MAAM

Music and dance mix for a special edition of Twilight at MAAM with Grammy-nominated, musician-led string ensemble Palaver Strings featuring Heyni Solera. Start the evening with a movement workshop followed by the musical program, Port City. 

About the Program  

Port City explores tango music throughout the genre’s history, and features bandoneon visionary Heyni Solera as soloist and composer. Palaver will perform danceable classics alongside contemporary tango-inspired compositions. They will also welcome powerhouse dancers Luna Beller-Tadiar and Sheila Solis Arroyo to join them for a full tanda, or series of tango dances. This performance will celebrate tango’s ongoing evolution and the powerful interplay between music and dance, as well as how the genre is being reclaimed by marginalized identities, especially women and queer artists. Join us for a movement workshop at the start of the show!

6:00p | Movement Workshop
7:00p | Performance 

Palaver Strings 

Palaver Strings is a Grammy-nominated, musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit organization based in Portland, ME. Our mission is to strengthen and inspire community through music. In our musician-led model, Palaver’s musicians share artistic and administrative leadership, guided by a passion for engaging new audiences, addressing social justice issues, and amplifying underrepresented voices. Equally committed to performance and education, Palaver presents a full season of live concerts and serves hundreds of students yearly at the Palaver Music Center in Portland.

Heyni Solera
Port City, Bandonenon/Composer

Heyni has enjoyed a career in the US and abroad, performing in Argentina, Canada, and Australia, and collaborating with prominent tango artists such as Ramiro Boero, Julian Peralta, Pablo Jaurena, Santiago Segret, Pedro Giraudo, and many more. In 2019, Heyni was a member of the Argentine tango orchestra schools La Orquesta de Tango de la Una and the Conservatorio Superior de “Manuel de Falla,” where she had the opportunity to perform in the prestigious Centro Cultural Kirchner.

Heyni is part of the cello/bandoneon duo Arco & Aire, with cellist Maxfield Wollam-Fisher. Their arrangement of “La Bordona” won Best Latin Song for the 2022 Wammie awards, which can be found in their EP Overture. This past July, Arco & Aire recorded their first full album of new contemporary tango music, which will be released in 2023. Heyni is also the other half of the Avalos-Solera Bandoneon Duo. In April of 2022, they released the album Bach en Bandoneon, and this past summer presented the album on their first United States tour. Heyni is the bandoneonist of Las Almas, an ensemble which focuses on female tango musicians in a typically male dominated genre, and has performed several times at the San Francisco International Arts Festival.

As a scholar, Heyni received her Masters of Music in Ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has developed the lectures A GPS for Tango Listening: What Makes Tango a Tango? and Today’s Woman in Tango: Carving Out Spaces, among others. These lectures have been extensively presented throughout the United States and Canada for public audiences and academics alike.

Past projects include playing in the orchestra of the highly praised IN Series production of Le Cabaret de Carmen at Source Theatre in Washington, D.C. and at Baltimore Theatre Project in Baltimore, Maryland. In April of 2022, Heyni had her Kennedy Center debut with the Latin-Grammy nominated PanAmerican Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the ensemble at the Argentine Embassy of Washington, DC. She also creates various content such as Today’s Tango with Heyni, a mini-series that features today’s contemporary tango musicians throughout the world, and Discovering Troilo, a mini-series that delves into the iconic style of Anibal Troilo’s tango orchestra.
 

Ticketing Notice

Ticketing for this event is managed by Palaver Strings. Contact info@palaverstrings.org for ticketing-related questions. 
 

Free with Registration 

This event is free with advance registration. MAAM may accommodate unregistered walk-up guests on the evening of this event only as capacity allows; walk-up tickets on the evening of the event are not guaranteed. Evening events often sell out; plan ahead and register in advance. 
 

Documentation Notice  

Photos and/or videos will be taken at this event. By attending this event, you acknowledge and agree that your likeness may be included in photos and videos of the event and that those photos and videos may be used by MassArt and Palaver Strings in connection with MassArt, MassArt Art Museum, and Palaver Strings communications. If you do not agree with this usage, please notify a staff member upon arrival to receive a no-photo sticker.
 

Access

MassArt Art Museum and Palaver Strings are committed to creating a welcoming, accessible, and inclusive environment during in-person and virtual programs and events. To request an access or disability-related accommodation, please contact MassArt Art Museum at maam@massart.edu at least two weeks before the date of the event.
 

Free

Advance registration required