Ben & Winnie: Inaugural Concert at Oak Park School of Music

My personal take is that Ms. Cheung truly represents the spirit of tango and its deep message. I am originally from Argentina and I was born in the city of Buenos Aires, the cradle of tango. As a tango lover, I know that tango music represents the way people live. The rich variety of rhythms in its music represent the way we walk and the melodies and phrasing represents the way we talk with our own accent. As far as I am concerned, Ms. Cheung is Argentinean and one of the best representatives of tango in the US.

Through music, dance, and a deep passion for tango, she is able to engage each one of them, eliciting high levels of participation and engendering a love of live performance, an appreciation for music from another culture and a whole lot of fun!

Her presentation was lively and fascinating, focusing on the history of the instrument and its repertoire, as well as both the physical intricacies of playing the instrument and the sonic possibilities for incorporating it into contemporary music… the material she presented was relevant to our students, both graduate and undergraduate, and thoroughly engaging as well.All of our students were enthralled with her live performance of examples on both bandoneon and piano.

It was an incredible event. From a musical standpoint, she covered a wide range of tango pieces that were equally accessible to our audience of students in grades 3rd-8th.  She shared historical and linguistic relevance to the music and its origins in a way that was engaging and enjoyable for all students.