Happy Northwest Sinfonietta Day

Today is Northwest Sinfonietta Day in Washington State, thanks in part to a relationship with Tacoma’s Sister City of Cienfuegos, Cuba.

This week, while the delegation from Tacoma’s new French Sister City is in town to begin the relationship between Biot and Tacoma, Cuban musicians will be visiting from Cienfuegos, and playing side by side with Northwest Sinfonietta musicians at shows in Tacoma, Puyallup, and Seattle.

The visit follows a tour by Northwest Sinfonietta musicians and supporters to Cienfuegos in January 2010, where the orchestra was only the third from the U.S. to play there since the 1959 revolution. And now another first. This visit by the Cubans will be the first time since the revolution that American and Cuban musicians have played together in both countries.

Besides the formal concerts, the Cuban group will be participating in a number of free cultural events, classes, and lectures at the University of Puget Sound, and the University of Washington, Tacoma. The visit will culminate with the Northwest Sinfonietta’s gala event, Tempo Cubano! on October 12.

And if you think that trip to Cienfuegos with the Sinfonietta sounds like a great time, the they’re now accepting applications to join the orchestra for its second Cuban tour in January 2013.

It’s no small feat to have put together all of these visits, but thanks to the hard work of NW Sinfonietta Director, Neil Birnbaum and others in both countries, we’ve got access to some unique cultural opportunities. Happy Sinfonietta Day.

Read more from the TNT, or at www.NothwestSinfonietta.org.