AfroMundo Festival 2025: "Troubled Territories: The Will to Heal,"

Outpost is pleased to partner once again with the annual AfroMundo Festival – now in its fourth consecutive year – to present its featured artist, Cuban born pianist and composer Elio Villafranca. This year’s festival, entitled "Troubled Territories: The Will to Heal,” runs from April 12-19 and takes place at multiple venues throughout Albuquerque and Bernalillo. This series presents cultural, artistic, ancestral, and folk knowledge alongside humanities disciplines to foster an understanding of our shared humanity. Featured regions are Haiti, Cuba, Palestine and the United States. Born in the Pinar del Río province of Cuba, Elio Villafranca was classically trained in percussion and composition at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba, with piano then becoming his instrument of choice. A Grammy nominated, Steinway Artist as well as 2014 Jalc Millennium Swing Award recipient, Villafranca has, since his arrival in the U.S. in mid 90’s, found himself at the forefront of the latest generation of remarkable pianists, composers and bandleaders. His concert, Letters to Mother Africa, was selected by NYC Jazz Record as Best Concerts in 2016 and in 2015, he was among the 5 pianists hand-picked by Chick Corea to perform at the first Chick Corea Jazz Festival. Over the years Villafranca has recorded and performed nationally and internationally as a leader with artists like Pat Martino, Terell Stafford, Billy Hart, Paquito D’Rivera, Eric Alexander, David Murray, and Wynton Marsalis, among others and as a sideman has collaborated with Jon Faddis, Billy Harper, Sonny Fortune, Miguel Zenón, Johnny Pacheco and others.  In 2017, Villafranca received The Sunshine Award, founded in 1989, to recognize excellence in the performing arts, education, science and sports of the various Caribbean countries, South America, Centro America, and Africa. Based in New York City, he is a faculty member of Temple University, Philadelphia, The Juilliard School of Music, New York University, and Manhattan School of Music in NYC. Tonight, featuring music from his latest album, Standing at the Crossroads, which explores the different religions intertwined within the cultural fabric of his country, he is joined by Vincent Herring, alto sax/clarinet; Freddie Hendrix, trumpet, Edward Perez, bass; Dion Parson, drums; Carlos Maldonado, percussion; and Mar Vilaseca, vocals. Like all AfroMundo Festival events, this concert is FREE but RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED.

In 2016 Bob Feld and family donated the beautiful Steinway B piano to Outpost to be played by countless great artists including tonight by Elio Villafranca.