A rich, concert-length work inspired by the Cultural heritage of Miguel Zenón’s native Puerto Rico

Nominated for a 2019 LATIN GRAMMY Award

Yo Soy La Tradición – Miguel Zenón & Spektral Quartet

Nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY Award

Yo Soy La Tradición – Miguel Zenón & Spektral Quartet

““Like most countries in Latin America, music has a very special place in Puerto Rican everyday life. It oozes out of every street corner, it springs out of every conversation. Even the most basic human interactions seem to have some kind of musical cadence to it. Puerto Rican music is an integral part of who I am, and my ultimate goal as an artist would be to synthesize and express everything it means to me.””

— Miguel Zenón

Yo Soy la Tradición is an immersive, concert-length work inspired by the musical heritage of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellow Miguel Zenón’s native Puerto Rico. Premiered in September 2016 at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival to critical acclaim, the work is an eight-movement suite that pairs lush, melodic string writing with complex rhythmic interactions, blurring the lines between jazz, classical, and folk musics. Though it outlines four of Puerto Rico’s musical traditions, Yo Soy la Tradición is much more than a collection of numbers designed to get you moving: it is a heartfelt, insider-tour of a rich cultural landscape.

The album release concert on September 21st, 2018 took place at the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, raising over $4,000 for the Chicago Aid for Puerto Rican Arts Fund.