V i va l a s a l s a !
Sal s a Or c hes t r a pr es ent s a ni ght of toet appi ng beats
Senior Kellene Bjarnson plays the flugelhorn in the March 25 salsa concert. Photo by Ryan Bagley
The drums beat, the horns played and the crowd was enriched with salsa music as the BYU–Hawaii Salsa Orchestra, directed by Darren Duerden, performed Thursday, March 25. The sounds of Latin America were brought to campus from a mix of talented students. Vocalist Carla Rada, junior in ICS from Bolivia, said, “Being in the band is like a little taste of home. Latinos are very connected to music and dancing.” Rada proved her point with groovy dancing and incredible singing. The music made people throughout the auditorium tap their feet to the constant salsa beat. Some even got up and started dancing in the aisles and then up on stage with the performers. David Stephen, a sophomore in biology from California said, “The band recruited some of us from the Latino Club to come and dance in the aisles. It was right up our alley.” The band consisted of vocals, saxophones, trumpets, trombones, bongos, congas, guitar, piano and other instruments. Saxophonist Brody Danielson, an undeclared freshman from California, remarked, “I have been playing jazz saxophone for eight years. This was the closest thing here to jazz band. I love improvising. Every single solo but one I was improvising.” After the final scheduled song “Mambo Para Ti” the crowd stood in a standing ovation and would not stop cheering until the band played another song.
– B R I A N P OP P LETO N
8
Ke Alaka‘i