World-class tango dancers and musicians come to Kirkland Fine Arts Center in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month

Kirkland Fine Arts Center celebrates Hispanic American Heritage Month with the award-winning show, Tango Del Cielo, on Saturday, October 15 at 7:30pm. Based in San Francisco, Tango Del Cielo is a unique theatrical performance that features a fusion of Latin styles including Tango, Flamenco, Spanish Classical and Latin Jazz. The performance includes live musicians and dancers, as well as film, art, lighting and effects in homage to the silent film era.

Anna Maria Mendieta, the founder, artistic director and harpist of Tango Del Cielo, has toured the world and performed for Pope Benedict XVI, President Clinton, President Gorbachev and the King & Queen of Spain. Tango Del Cielo not only showcases Latin music and dance but is an homage to Mendieta’s own heritage; she is the great-niece of Nita Naldi, the 1920s movie star of the silent screen and frequent costar with Rudolph Valentino.

The day of the concert, the performers of Tango Del Cielo will offer two masterclasses to the Millikin student body and public. At 11 a.m. on October 15, a special tango masterclass will be held on stage at Kirkland Fine Arts Center for all who can join, with a masterclass in guitar, violin, cello, bass or percussion to follow (depending on interest). Both classes will be offered free of charge.

Internationally and domestically, Tango Del Cielo has already won several awards, including the LIT International Talent Award for Best Show. It was also the featured show at the 2019 World Tango Festival in Victoria, Canada. The tie-in album of the same name includes Argentine Tango and Spanish Flamenco arranged for harp and orchestra, and it debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Classical Crossover Chart. Multi Grammy Award winner & Oscar nominee Jorge Calandrelli, and multi-Grammy-award winner Pablo Ziegler, as well as several other illustrious musicians and producers worked on its creation.

Support for Kirkland Fine Arts Center has been provided by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. To buy tickets and for a full schedule of events, please visit kirklandfinearts.com.

About Kirkland Fine Arts Center

Kirkland Fine Arts Center is located on the Millikin University campus in Decatur, Illinois. Since its grand opening in 1970, Kirkland Fine Arts Center has played an integral part in continuing the arts in Decatur and central Illinois. The center is home to a 1,903-seat auditorium and houses several music and choral facilities, lecture halls, art galleries and other multipurpose rooms. Kirkland Fine Arts Center has brought in many nationally acclaimed musical tours including Rent, 42nd Street, Grease, Godspell, Side by Side, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats and many others. World-renowned entertainers such as Trace Adkins, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Vicki Lawrence and others have also performed at the center. Visit kirklandfinearts.com to learn more.

About the Tango Del Cielo

With standing ovations nationwide and beyond, Tango Del Cielo, a unique theatrical music and dance program, features a fusion of Latin styles including Tango, Flamenco, Spanish Classical, and Latin Jazz. Performances feature award winning musicians and world champion dancers. The concerts pay homage to the era of silent film and are especially captivating, incorporating multi-media use of film art, staging, lighting and effects. Concerts can be formatted as a concerto element with orchestras or as its own self-contained concert-show. The Tango Del Cielo show was the featured show at the 2019 World Tango Festival in Victoria, Canada. Outreach and engaging virtual concerts are available. The programs are full of surprises and appropriate for audiences of all ages! Visit tangodelcielo.com(link is external) to learn more.

About the Anna Maria Mendieta

"Artistic excellence," "charismatic," "exciting" and "brilliant" are words that critics have described concert artist Anna Maria Mendieta. Ms. Mendieta performs all over the world and enjoys a busy career as a concert soloist, symphony soloist, recording artist and teacher. She is the principal harpist with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera and has performed with many symphony orchestras and chamber music groups across the U.S. and abroad. She performs all styles of music from Classical to Contemporary as a soloist and with her many ensembles. Specializing in Spanish Classical and Argentine Tango, Ms. Mendieta is often featured performing the concerti of Joaquín Rodrigo as well as special tango arrangements created for her for the harp and orchestra by Grammy Award-winning composers and arrangers. She has received international recognition and standing ovations as a pioneer and "an exceptional soloist" by the League of American Orchestras for the tango music of Astor Piazzolla making history with the unique programming and use of harp in this musical style. Her national touring concert-show of award-winning performers, "Tango del Cielo" (Tango of Heaven) is the focus of a documentary film. Her educational outreach ensemble "Del Cielo" was the two-time winner of the San Francisco Symphony's Adventures in Music program and she has since continued to create and perform many outreach productions for the Symphony. Ms. Mendieta has appeared as a soloist for motion pictures, television, National Public Radio and the Emmy Awards. She has performed for Pope Benedict XVI, for President Clinton, President Gorbachev and the King and Queen of Spain. Visit annamariamendieta.com(link is external) to learn more.

About Millikin University

Millikin is a private, not-for-profit, four-year university with an enrollment of approximately 2,000 students in traditional and non-traditional undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Located in Decatur, Illinois, you will quickly discover that the signature of a Millikin education is a unique experience we like to call Performance Learning.

Since its founding more than 120 years ago, Millikin has operated under the philosophy of providing an education that combines theory with practice. While this was a radical idea at the time, we know today that students must perform their knowledge in order to be truly prepared for a successful career after college. Through immersive experiences such as internships, co-teaching, running a business, presenting research to experts and performing in front of audiences, students find new ways to live out their learning and reap the rewards of their hard work. Visit millikin.edu to learn more.

For further information, please contact LJ Pemberton, Marketing and Patron Relations Manager at Kirkland Fine Arts Center at 217.424.3931 or lpemberton@millikin.edu.