Spanish Harlem Orchestra: Salsa Navidad

“Salsa Navidad” arrives at the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center as a New York City holiday concert shaped by salsa’s orchestral tradition. The Spanish Harlem Orchestra, a two-time Grammy winner led by Oscar Hernández, shares the program with singer-songwriter Santiago Cruz, the Queens College Choral Society, and the Queens Symphony Orchestra, with Miguel Anggelo also featured. The evening frames Afro-Caribbean dance music alongside choral and symphonic forces, a reminder of how New York’s Latin scenes have long moved between club bands and concert halls. One clear takeaway is its emphasis on community-scale collaboration over solo display.