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Winnie Cheung

Tango Pianist

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Outreach

There is no better reward than to take tango to everyone…

Multicultural, multi-lingual, trained in academia and thriving outside of it, Winnie is the connector between many worlds. Her specialty is in bringing tango to people who have never heard of tango before.

Winnie Cheung, piano & bandoneon

 Winnie has led over a hundred outreach events using live tango music as a vehicle of connection and communication across the US, Asia and Canada in K-12 schools, universities, retirement communities, community-and-professional music schools, medical facilities, dementia homes, farmer’s markets, art galleries and cross-cultural festivals. She was covid-canceled for the big workshop in Danville Correctional Facilities in 2020 – a medium-security all-male facility – but she was rebooked for 2023. She is slated to do a workshop at the juvenile detention center in rural Ohio near Cleveland in October 2022.

Events Winnie has led range from specialized masterclasses for university composition students at prestigious music departments like the Jacob School of Music, Indiana University; Cultural and Music Appreciation courses at  liberal arts colleges like Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, Butler University, St Mary’s College, Notre Dame University, Purdue University, Columbia College Chicago, University of Dayton, University of Pikeville. For Winnie, the most enjoyable school outreach events happen in front of younger audiences: K-12. She has also personally witnessed so many moments where tango brought life and light back to seniors and the infirmed – there is no better reward for Winnie to keep taking tango to everyone, especially to those who cannot come to tango.

Outreach Team

Natsuki Nishijara, bandoneon

Natsuki Nishijara, bandoneon

Natsuki was born in Japan. She graduated from Toho College of Music at the age of 22 with a Bachelor’s degree in Trumpet.

In 2012, she became interested in Tango and began studying Bandoneón in Tokyo. She traveled to Buenos Aires in 2014 to study with Néstor Marconi and Ramiro Boero. In 2017, she joined the Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Barcarce, directed by Víctor Lavallén, and had the opportunity to share the stage with maestros like José “Pepe” Colángelo, Nicolás Ledesma, Osvaldo Piro, Roberto Álvarez, Daniel Binelli and Mauricio Marcelli.

In 2019, she participated in the concert “Bandoneon Day,” performing arrangements for solo bandoneon (including some of her own arrangements) at the Kirchner Cultural Center (CCK). Natsuki performs in several tango groups and orchestras in the city of Buenos Aires, including the Yazmina Raies Trio and Juan Pablo Gallardo Orquesta, among others. She currently performs as a bandoneon soloist in the tango show, Tango Porteño.


Laura Camacho, bass

Laura Camacho, bass

Laura is a classically-trained double bass player specialized in tango music, born in  Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied at the Manuel de Falla Conservatory with National’s Symphony principal bassist, later taking lessons with renowned tango bassist Horacio Cabarcos.

During her formative years, Camacho stayed active in youth orchestras, tango, contemporary, and chamber ensembles. Upon graduation, Laura taught double bass and cello at the Buenos Aires Youth Orchestras. She moved to the US in 2009 after being offered a scholarship to study double bass at the University of Georgia with soloist Dr. Milton Masciadri.

She has recorded and toured extensively throughout the USA, Canada, and Argentina with groups like Las Del Abasto and Alejandro Ziegler quartet, as well as her ensemble in the South East of the USA, Athens Tango Project, sharing the stage with artists like Mariano Mores, Sexteto Mayor, and Tanguetto. Laura composed and recorded music for the documentary Eat White Dirt and is the founder and director of the Athens Tango Project, with whom she wrote and recorded the soundtrack for the film Athens Rising: The Sicyon Project.

She divides her time between teaching tango seminars for college music students, dancers and the general public, performing and traveling, and writing and arranging  music for Athens Tango Project. The ensemble  has recently recorded their first LP, is being performed in classical , jazz, and tango radios around the world, and was recently awarded the Athens Area Arts Grant to expand the ensemble’s educational reach in the region.

Tango with Winnie Endorsements

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.

Pablo Zavattieri

Jerry M. and Lynda T. Engelhardt Professor, Purdue University

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!

Eve Cusack

Lead Teacher, Walnut Lower Elementary Classroom, Bloomington Montessori School

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.

Aaron Travers

Professor, Dept. of Composition, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music

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.

Chris Bultman

Performing Arts Specialist, The Project School
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