From Spain and Cuba

Spanish and Cuban chamber music comes into focus in a program pairing works by Manuel Canales, Ignacio Cervantes and Joaquín Turina at the Coral Gables Museum. Presented Sunday, October 11, the concert features the South Beach Chamber Ensemble in music that traces connections between Iberian and Cuban traditions. The program includes Canales’ String Quartet in D Major, Op. 1, selections from Cervantes’ Danzas Cubanas and Turina’s String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 4.

Cervantes, one of 19th-century Cuba’s leading composers and pianists, is best known for his Danzas Cubanas, miniature works that blend European forms with distinctly Cuban rhythmic character. Turina brought Andalusian influences into early 20th-century Spanish concert music, while Canales was among Spain’s early composers of string quartets during the Classical era.

Founded in 1997 by Michael Andrews, the South Beach Chamber Ensemble presents chamber music throughout South Florida through its Music in Beautiful Spaces series, with an emphasis on accessible performances and local musicians.