Carnegie Hall Brings Flavors of World Music to Jamaica View Full Caption

QUEENS — Carnegie Hall will host two free concerts in March in Jamaica, bringing Afro-Cuban and Argentinean music to the local audience, the organizers said.

The concerts are part of the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts series, which brings outstanding and emerging artists to neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs, said Courtney French of the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, where the events will be held.

Sofia Rei, an Argentinean singer and songwriter, whose music combines South American folk and jazz influences, will perform on March 1. The artist will present songs from her recent album "De Tierra y Oro," singing in Spanish, Portuguese and English.

The series, which has been held around the city for four decades and was first introduced to Jamaica only two years ago, will also bring The Pedrito Martinez Group to the neighborhood on March 28.

Martinez, who has played with Sting, Paquito D’Rivera and Edie Brickell, plays Afro-Cuban music, mixing rhythms of the Cuban bata drum with African chants, according to the Carnegie Hall's website.

The series brings the sounds of “world music to the neighborhood, including some West African and jazz rhythms, that reflect to some degree the community that we have here in Southeast Queens,” said French.

Also in March, classical music fans from the neighborhood will be treated to a top-notch local performance. On March 14, Cleveland-based ensemble Les Delices will perform French Baroque music at King Manor Museum, which for the first time this year partnered with Five Boroughs Music Festival, a nonprofit organization that specializes in presenting classical music concerts in all five boroughs.

The program, “Conversations galantes,” will feature works from the French Rococo period, including music by André Danican Philidor, Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, Jean-Marie Leclair and Jean-Philippe Rameau, according to Emily Melchin of King Manor Museum.

The musicians will play on instruments popular during that period, including harpsichord, baroque oboe, violin and viola da gamba.

Sofia Rei will perform at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center (153-10 Jamaica Ave.), on Saturday, March 1, at 7 p.m., and The Pedrito Martinez Group will perform on Friday, March 28, at 7 p.m. Both concerts are free.

Les Delices will perform at King Manor Museum (153rd Street and Jamaica Avenue) on March 14. The concert will start at 6:30 p.m. and end at 7:30 p.m. ($25 in advance, $30 at the door; wine and light refreshments will be served at 6 p.m.).