(Prensa Latina - Cumbancha) Buenos Aires, Argentina - An exquisite and varied program including performances by the famous pianist Chucho Valdés at the legendary Colón Theater in Buenos Aires will form part of the Cuban Culture Week in Argentina this year. The traditional celebration, which lasts almost two months, will open Saturday with a performance by the group Clave Cubana, as in previous years, at the prestigious cultural center La Recoleta. Chucho Valdés, founder and director of Irakere and one of the best jazz musicians in the world, will give the first of three performances scheduled for Buenos Aires (two at the Colón Theater and one at the Opera) on October 20, Cuba's Culture Day.

According to Valdes's statement recently in the Dominican Republic, where he was taking part in the 5th Dominican Republic Jazz Festival, he will play with a symphony orchestra and will repeat the solo concert, which already earned him praise in Los Angeles, United States. At the Colón Theater, one of the most important theaters in Latin America, Valdés will perform with the orchestra led by Milen Nachev, in a program mixing Cuban percussionists and symphonic musicians. He will play works by the Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona and the French musician Héctor Berlioz, to commemorate the latter's 200th birthday.