City event features Latin Grammy-winning group, Jewish soul

The City of Las Cruces is sponsoring a free world-class musical event and an exhibition featuring music legends from around the world, including the world-renowned and Latin Grammy-winning string quartet Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

Here are the events:

• “Nefesh Jehudi: “A Musical Journey through the Jewish Soul,” will be 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, at Rio Grande Theatre, 211 N. Main St. Downtown. The free concert will feature Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

Tickets are required even though the event is free and are available at https://ccmpdn.org/event/jewish-soul-by-cuarteto-latinoamericano-las-cruces/.

The concert, which is co-sponsored by the city’s Quality of Life Department and the Paseo del Norte Mexican Cultural Center in El Paso, will also include soprano Sivan Rotem and pianist Sally Pinkas.

Rotem is one of Israel's most versatile artists. She began her musical training as a violinist and was the first violinist of “The Kibbutz Youth Symphony Orchestra.” Rotem has degrees in English and literature from Haifa University and in voice from The Rubin Academy at Tel Aviv University.

Pinkas was born and raised in Israel. She is a professor of music at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and pianist in residence of the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth.

• The Latin American Music Conference and reception will begin at noon, Friday, Dec. 10, at Thomas Branigan Memorial Library, 200 E. Picacho Ave. The event will include Cuarteto Latinoamericano giving a small presentation and answering questions and a presentation about Hannukah by Temple Beth El. Light refreshments will be served. The event is open to the public.
• An exhibition about the 40-year history and career of Cuarteto Latinoamericano, which originated in Mexico City in 1981, will continue through Friday, Dec. 31, at Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main St. The exhibit is open to the public.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Puckett at Thomas Branigan Memorial Library at Elizabeth

575-528-4012 and epuckett6794@las-cruces.org.