Latin Jazz Great Sanchez Brings Smiles at Madrid

Latin Jazz artist Poncho Sanchez performed to an audience of more than 300--mostly children and their parents--at the Madrid Theatre as part of the Monday Morning Concerts for Kids series.

Miguel A. Cortez, manager of the Madrid Theatre, said Sanchez’s concert was the best production he has seen since the theater’s opening late last year.

“It was great to see the smiles on the kids’ faces,” Cortez said. “It went so well we are all still talking about it, and I bet the kids are, too.”

Sanchez, a well-known Latin Jazz artist from the Los Angeles area whose accomplishments include 15 albums and three Grammy nominations, entertained and instructed the children about the instruments and about Latin Jazz.

Among schools and organizations represented in the concert audience were the West Valley Boys & Girls Club, Canoga Elementary School, Canoga Park High School, the Calabasas Moms Club and Hart Street Elementary School.

The concerts are presented by the nonprofit Valley Cultural Center, an organization established 25 years ago to educate, and to present diverse performing and visual arts to the community.

Monday Morning Concerts for Kids series will consist of six free concerts held on consecutive Monday mornings through Aug. 9, except July 5. Artists scheduled to perform include the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on July 12, the San Fernando Valley Symphony on July 19, Might Mo’ Rogers on July 26, Abalaye African Dance and Music on Aug. 2 and Ritornello, an early music expert, on Aug. 9. The project is co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and by grants from Mervyn’s California.

For more information, contact the Valley Cultural Center at (818) 704-1358 or on the Web at www.valleycultural.org.