PRESS RELEASE :

Leith O'Malley's paintings will now be the focus of a major music festival in Russia during November.

“The Theatre & Concert Programs Production Company” of Moscow , a Russian based promoter of multilateral cultural events have commissioned Leith to provide the artwork for the promotion of the first International “ Rio – Havana – New-York” Jazz and Latin Music Festival.

The Festival is being organized in conjunction with US based “Elephant Records” and will take place around the historic state visit of the Russian president Vladimir Putin to Brazil in November (this month). This festival is a high visibility cultural event incepted to build cultural bridges between people and cultures of the four respective countries. Its uniqueness is further affirmed by the broad support it has received from the Ministries of Culture, Foreign affairs, and other multilateral cultural organizations of Russia , United States , Brazil , and Cuba .

Leith's “Jazz is Art, Art is Jazz” series features on several international jazz sites along with his own website and gained the attention of the festivals organizing committee after their worldwide search for suitable work. Their initial approach via email said his “expressive artwork encapsulated the spirit of this great event, personifying the very essence of this original art form called jazz”.

16 separate fragments from different O'Malley paintings feature on the promotional posters with the festival's insignia and written text announcing the event added to it. The artwork will help promote the event and feature on billboards, outdoor carriers, TV, printed and electronic media as well as large screen TVs around the city. Leith has also been invited by the organizers to attend the festival.

The “Rio – Havana – New-York” festival will include such great masters as Freddy Cole, Chucho Valdez, Milcho Leviev, Emilio Santiago, Joao Donato, Frank Collon and other outstanding international performers and give the Russian public an opportunity to see the great masters in person with all seven Festival performances taking place in Moscow's most popular and largest concert halls.

Here are some details about the festival:

The first international festival of Latin American music, Rio - Havana - New York , is taking place from November 17 through 23 on the stages of the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Moscow International House of Music and Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Center . The festival features such stars as Chucho Valdes, Milcho Leviev, Emilio Santiago, Joao Donato, Frank Collon, and the Caribbean Girls.  

Rio - Havana - New York This is the name of the festival that aims at uniting three cultures: Brazilian, Cuban and North American. The festival would be interesting not only as a musical event, but also as a political action: American and Cuban musicians, representatives of the two countries which do not maintain any official connections, act as so-called goodwill ambassadors.

A few words about the participants of the Festival. Novel Voz is a unique band - its members can perform voice imitations of any orchestral instrument. Milcho Leviev is a legendary American pianist, and composer who straddles classical jazz, sympho-jazz and jazz-rock. This virtuoso is professional enough to partner up with Jesus Chucho Valdes from Cuba . The latter, who began playing at the age of 3 and earned a reputation of a prodigy, is one of the pillars of the genre, a repeated Grammy winner, and a guru for many younger musicians. Leviev and Valdes have only met once, forty years ago. Since then they could only praise each other's talents, so their duo concert is a realization of a dream which is 40 years old.

Frank Colon is a world famous percussionist, and a specialist in Latin Caribbean and Brazilian instruments such as congas, bongos, timbales, shekere, Cuban bata drums, cuica, berimbau, atabaque and the entire array of samba instruments.

Brazil is represented by the bright Joao Donato and Emilio Santiago. Donato was among the pioneers of bossa nova who influenced several generations of pianists and composers. His songs were sung by Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sting, Ray Charles, Antonio Jobim, Stevie Wonder, and Madonna. Emilio Santiago is today's #1 Brazilian singer, with a mellow voice that moves the audience to tears. Last but not least, Wanda Sa has one of the most impressive vocals in the whole history of Brazilian music.

THE DESIGN FEATURING LEITH'S WORK