Cantata Criolla: Spain Tour Send-Off Concert
Jun 05, 2026
From: 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
FIU musicians present a large-scale Latin American choral-orchestral work before taking it to an international stage in Spain. The send-off concert takes place Friday, June 5 at the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts at FIU. The program supports the FIU Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming tour to Madrid, where the ensemble is scheduled to perform at the Auditorio Nacional de la Música.
The concert features Antonio Estévez’s Cantata Criolla, performed by the FIU Symphony Orchestra, FIU Concert Choir, Encantus Voices and Amazonia Choir. Guest artists Juan Tomás Martínez and Carlos Silva appear as El Diablo and Florentino in the work’s central sung duel, drawn from Alberto Arvelo Torrealba’s poem Florentino y el Diablo.
A landmark of Latin American concert music, Cantata Criolla combines Venezuelan folk rhythms, traditional melodies, chorus and orchestra in a dramatic musical contest between a plainsman and the Devil. Following a 2024 performance at The Wertheim that led to the Madrid invitation, this concert serves as the final local presentation before the orchestra’s Spain appearance.
General admission and FIU student tickets are available. Proceeds support the FIU Symphony Orchestra’s tour to Madrid.