Clinging to a Sweet Memory - Tango Music & Lyrics
An evening of music appreciation and history
with Emmanuel Trifilio and S. Alexandra Russell
60-minute seminar - Music Education Online Program
When we dance or listen to tango music, we feel the passion it conveys. Understanding the lyrics in the context of the music’s evolution adds a whole new dimension to the experience. In this pilot online program, tango historian S. Alexandra Russell will delve into the stories of four of the most beloved songs, representing the early tango to the Golden Age, and tango musician and composer Emmanuel Trifilio will perform them on bandoneon and guitar.
Thursday July 16 at 7PM EDT (UTC-4)
Open to all and offered free of charge. Donations appreciated to help us keep supporting local artists.
You can register and donate here.
Emmanuel Trifilio, an Argentinian international bandoneon player and tango composer, brings a fresh perspective to the traditional tango sound, both in performance and composition. He has toured across South America, Europe, the United States and British Columbia, and performed as soloist on the main stages of Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center. Trifilio has also appeared with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, Choral Arts Society of Washington, Octavio Brunetti Tango Orchestra, and South Carolina Philharmonic. With his group, the Trifilio Tango Trio (now Emma Tango Trio), he has presented virtuosic performances or original tango compositions at sold-out shows at the Embassies of Argentina and Uruguay in Washington. “Milonga de la Ausencia,” from his first album, Original (2016), was nominated for Best Original Score at the Milan Online Film Festival in 2016. Trifilio Tango Trio has released two other albums, Bienvenidos al Ring and Estaciones. (photo by Eddie Arrossi).
S. Alexandra Russell is a writer, editor, and translator of French and Spanish. She holds a Master’s Degree in Scientific and Technical Translation from the University of Paris. She worked in international organizations her entire career, including over 20 years at the Inter- American Development Bank, where she covered Latin American and Caribbean development projects and cultural events. A life-long love of social dancing brought her to the tango, which she has taught since 2010. Russell has published tango reviews in The Washington Post and International Musician. In 2014, she completed a course on the Social and Political History of Tango with FLACSO university in Buenos Aires, Argentina and has given multimedia presentations to general American audiences at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library and the IDB Retirees Association. In 2019 and 2020, she partnered with local opera company RÓMEZ3arts to bring tango to St. Paul’s church in DC and to its older adult program, Prime Time. Russell joined the Tango Mercurio Board in 2018 and serves as Community Program Manager for Older Adults. She was trained as a Teaching Artist by Arts for the Aging in 2019.
