lorena garay
Lorena Garay is an award-winning guitarist from Puerto Rico who performs classical, Spanish and Latin guitar. She also loves playing rhythm guitar and percussive guitar. Her captivating guitar arrangements and passionate playing style beautifully blend her classical guitar technique with Spanish melodies and Latin rhythms.
Lorena earned her Master of Music degree Summa Cum Laude from The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, where she received the Guitar Department Award. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree Summa Cum Laude from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, from which she received the String Department Gold Medal Award.
Lorena has received many awards, including the Identidad Latina's Latino de Oro Music Award. She performs regularly as a soloist and bandleader of her award-winning ensemble, Surcari. Surcari received the Arts For Learning Connecticut's 2018 Performing Artist of the Year Award.
Lorena earned her Master of Music degree Summa Cum Laude from The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, where she received the Guitar Department Award. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree Summa Cum Laude from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, from which she received the String Department Gold Medal Award.
Lorena has received many awards, including the Identidad Latina's Latino de Oro Music Award. She performs regularly as a soloist and bandleader of her award-winning ensemble, Surcari. Surcari received the Arts For Learning Connecticut's 2018 Performing Artist of the Year Award.
She has released two albums: La Guitarra de Puerto Rico, a featured album of a Greater Hartford Arts Council's United Arts Gift Giving Campaign; and Surcari, which won third place for Best South and Central American Album at the 2009 Just Plain Folks Independent Music Awards. In addition, she composed, recorded, and produced two 15-track instrumental albums commissioned by the international TV Sports Network ESPN.
Lorena has performed at numerous prestigious venues, such as Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Colgate University, Hamilton, NY; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Festival Artscape, Baltimore, MD; The Bushnell, Hartford, CT; and Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, PR; among others. At the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in Pennsylvania, Lorena was the opening act for renowned guitar duo Strunz and Farah. [learn more]
eugenio huanca
Eugenio Huanca, a native of Chile, has devoted his life to playing music from Latin America and the Andes. He is a certified member of the Aymara indigenous group according to The National Corporation for Indigenous Development (CONADI) founded by the Indigenous Law, which recognized all indigenous peoples of Chile. Eugenio is a very accomplished musician who builds his own musical instruments. He has traveled all over South, Central and North America performing on national television in each country he visited.
Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Smithsonian Institute are among the most prestigious venues where he has performed. At Boston Symphony Hall, he performed with the Boston Pops. At the National Cathedral, he performed with world-renowned soprano Denise Graves. Eugenio's former group, Guamary, participated in the soundtrack for the PBS documentary: "Flight of the Condor." He is a former band member of several Latin groups, such as Altiplano, Flor de Caña, Sol y Canto, Andes Manta, and Viva Quetzal. He has recorded over a dozen albums with the aforementioned bands and other recording artists.
Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Smithsonian Institute are among the most prestigious venues where he has performed. At Boston Symphony Hall, he performed with the Boston Pops. At the National Cathedral, he performed with world-renowned soprano Denise Graves. Eugenio's former group, Guamary, participated in the soundtrack for the PBS documentary: "Flight of the Condor." He is a former band member of several Latin groups, such as Altiplano, Flor de Caña, Sol y Canto, Andes Manta, and Viva Quetzal. He has recorded over a dozen albums with the aforementioned bands and other recording artists.
Eugenio is a gifted vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who performs on over thirty wind, string, and percussion instruments. He plays a wide array of bamboo flutes and ocarinas, as well as different types of panpipes from the Andes, including the six-foot long panpipes. He also plays guitar, charango, macho charango, Venezuelan cuatro, Colombian tiple, cajón, caja vallenata, bongos, bombo legüero, and many more.
Eugenio is a longtime member of Surcari, an award-winning performance group originally from Chile, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico under the musical direction of guitarist Lorena Garay. Surcari's self-titled album, Surcari, won third place for Best South and Central American Album at the 2009 Just Plain Folks Independent Music Awards. Surcari also received the Arts For Learning Connecticut's 2018 Performing Artist of the Year Award.
edilio bermudez
Edilio Bermudez, a native of Venezuela, is an accomplished violinist, bassist, composer, arranger, and music teacher. Edilio started playing the violin at the age of 12 with the Youth Symphonic Orchestra of his hometown. Three years later, he was awarded a scholarship to study at several conservatories in Paris, France, where he spent five years mastering the violin. While in Paris, Edilio taught himself to play the bass guitar, utilizing some of the practice techniques he used with the violin. Shortly after, he started playing bass professionally in the Latin music scene in Paris.
Back in Venezuela, Edilio played with master saxophonist, Santiago Baquedano, and was introduced to jazz. He went to Berklee College of Music in Boston to pursue an Artist Diploma in jazz performance. While in Boston, he continued playing jazz and Latin music, sharing the stage with world-renowned percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo and Berklee professor and vibraphone player Victor Mendoza.
Back in Venezuela, Edilio played with master saxophonist, Santiago Baquedano, and was introduced to jazz. He went to Berklee College of Music in Boston to pursue an Artist Diploma in jazz performance. While in Boston, he continued playing jazz and Latin music, sharing the stage with world-renowned percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo and Berklee professor and vibraphone player Victor Mendoza.
Edilio has recorded with well renowned drummer Bob Moses and pianist Danilo Perez. In addition, he has backed up many salsa singers, including Marvin Santiago, Giro, Vitty Ruiz, Lalo Rodriguez, and many more. While living in Miami, FL, he toured with Julio Iglesias, Juan Gabriel, José Luis Rodríguez, Celia Cruz, Nelson Pinedo, Rey Ruiz, and Nestor Torres, among others.
Edilio is a member of Surcari, an award-winning performance group originally from Chile, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico under the musical direction of guitarist Lorena Garay. Surcari's self-titled album, Surcari, won third place for Best South and Central American Album at the 2009 Just Plain Folks Independent Music Awards. Surcari also received the Arts For Learning Connecticut's 2018 Performing Artist of the Year Award.
