From Roots to Resistance: The Political Power of Musical ExpressionMaster ClassIn-Person
Wednesday, Oct 29, 2025
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m
Location To Be Announced
Musical expression doesn’t appear out of nowhere—it grows from lived experience. So, too, does political activism. Drawing on a life that crosses genres and cultures, jazz legend Arturo O’Farrill will explore how his multinational heritage (Irish, Cuban, Mexican, and German) has informed his music and his politics. Drawing on his own work—founding the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, collaborating on Fandango at the Wall, and composing politically charged pieces like The Offense of the Drum—O’Farrill will discuss how music can carry urgency and meaning, how structure and improvisation can reflect resistance, and how crossing artistic boundaries can be both an aesthetic and political act.
JAZZ, MUSIC, ACTIVISM
Arturo O’Farrill
Arturo O’Farrill, pianist, composer, and educator, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Arturo’s professional career began with the Carla Bley Band and continued as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte. In 2007, he founded the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance (now Belongó) as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the performance, education, and preservation of Afro Latin music. Arturo’s composition “Three Revolutions,” from the album Familia: Tribute to Chico and Bebo, received the Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 2018; Arturo’s album Fandango at the Wall in New York won the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2023.