Scenes From Life: Cuba!

Thirty-seven student musicians from Cuba’s national conservatory of the arts, the Universidad de las Artes (ISA), traveled to Chicago as guests of Chicago Jazz Philharmonic (CJP) for a week-long cultural exchange that culminated with a landmark performance with CJP at the Auditorium Theatre. This collaboration with ISA began with Orbert’s visit to Cuba as part of the Havana International Jazz Festival in December 2014. Orbert and members of CJP were rehearsing with the students at ISA during President Obama’s historic announcement of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba, thrusting Davis and company into the international spotlight on “60 Minutes.”