Pablo Cardenas Presents “Gershwin in Havana”

Sat. February 24th 2024 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM doors at 5:30 PM (All Ages)
Livestream + In Person $30 plus fees/tax, walk-ins welcome
We will be celebrating Hermann's Jazz Club's 43rd anniversary with a short ceremony during this special jazz show.
World class Cuban pianist Pablo Cardenas is back to perform the best of Gershwin in Cuban style, recreating his music with modern harmonies and Afro-Cuban rhythms, a perfect fusion you don’t want to miss. Pablo will be inviting two special guests, the outstanding Canadian vocalists Stephanie Greaves and Leif Bradshaw.

Gershwin was one of the most important pianists and composers in the history of music, he had the versatility to create for different genres and was well known in popular, Jazz and Classical music. He also gained a great recognition making the music for some of the best musical theater productions of all time like “Porgy and Bess”. George Gershwin’s music was influenced by Cuban music thanks to a trip to the Island. As he was aware of the international relevance of Cuban music, Gershwin traveled to Havana in 1932 to experience all he could from the music scene over there, as a result of those two weeks vacation in Havana he left inspired to create important pieces like the Cuban Overture.

Pablo Cardenas is one of the best pianists of his generation, his versatility and high technical preparation make his music very rich and full of different influences from Afro-cuban, Latin Jazz to Fusion, Jazz, Classical and more. He started taking piano lessons at the age of five at the Conservatory of Music of Matanzas, Cuba. His first recital was at the age of 10, after he went on to complete his Masters degree in classical performance with the prominent Cuban pianist Antonio Carbonell who studied at Tchaikovsky conservatory in Moscow. After his graduation he went on for higher studies in classical and Jazz at the Superior institute of Arts of Havana, where he had the opportunity to meet and take lessons with top American jazz pianists like Herbie Hancock and Danilo Perez. He went on to work as a piano teacher at the Conservatory and started a career as classical music performer and accompanist but shortly after he changed the course of his music career and embraced Jazz, creating his (Pablo Cardenas Latin jazz Quartet). Since arriving in Canada in 2010 he has been teaching at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for a few years until he started teaching privately at Alison pianos, and have led different projects like The West Coast Cuban All Stars, Pablo Cardenas Modern Jazz Trio, Pablo Cardenas Latin Combo and many more. He has participated in many Festivals in Canada and internationally, and constantly collaborated with several high class musicians over the years.