'Tango and Borges' performance to feature music, dialogue

"Tango and Borges: A Concert with Dialogue" will feature an evening of tango songs interacting with the writings of Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges at 7 p.m. Monday, April 9, in SUNY Oswego's Marano Campus Center auditorium (Room 132).

The performance will feature actor/singer Milton Loayza of the modern languages and literatures faculty and guitarist Matthew Ocone.

The script draws from adaptations from a short story by Borges, as well as from the author’s lectures, interviews and poems, where Borges’s particular vision of the popular dance form and tradition is revealed. The bilingual concert/dialogue is music and theater that touches on issues of aesthetics, gender, identity, popular language and class, Loayza said.

Loayza was born in Argentina, and has been exploring the tango genre from various angles: as a social dancer at numerous milongas (tango salons) in Buenos Aires and New York, as an actor when performing (since 2013) in the tango opera by Piazzola/Ferrer, "Maria de Buenos Aires" (productions by Syracuse Opera, Atlanta Opera, New Orleans Opera and Mill City Opera in Minneapolis, among others), and as a singer since recording an album of tangos in 2015. In "Tango and Borges," Loayza, who teaches Spanish at SUNY Oswego, explores Borges’ particular predilection for the old guard of tango from the early 20th century.

Ocone is a classical guitarist living in the Ithaca area. He is a graduate of the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, where he earned a bachelor of music with distinction while studying with Nicholas Goluses. Ocone's repertoire ranges from baroque guitar transcriptions to 20th century masterpieces. He also performs with Lily Silly Puppets, putting on shows all over New York.

The presentation -- a collaboration of the college's Artswego, Hart Hall Global Living and Learning Center, and modern languages and literatures department -- is free for students with SUNY Oswego ID, $10 for the general public and $5 for students 17 and under. Tickets are available at all SUNY Oswego box offices, online at tickets.oswego.edu or by calling 315-312-2141.