Renowned Cuban pianist, Chucho Valdés, and his Chinese counterpart, Lang Lang, will play pieces by composers from Russia, Britain, the US, and Cuba at a Havana concert on October 9th.  

The two performers and the Cuban National Symphony, directed on this occasion by US guest conductor, Marin Alsop, chose to play works by Russia’s Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky, British composer, Edward Elgar, George Gershwin and James P. Johnson from the US, as well as Cuba’s Ernesto Lecuona, Antonio Romeu and Valdés. The concert scheduled to be held at Havana’s historical Cathedral Square is set to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Havana and to donate its proceeds to the city’s residents. Music school students will reportedly be invited to the general rehearsal.

The New York Times has described Lang as the world’s best classical pianist, while Time magazine has included him on the list of the one hundred most influential people in the world. Renowned US violist and conductor, Marin Alsop, has been the director of the Baltimore Symphony for a number of years. For his part, Chucho Valdés, was included in the Latin Jazz Hall of Fame in Los Angeles in 2000, has received eight Grammy Awards and Honorary Doctor’s degrees in universities of Canada, the US and Cuba.