Production Details

Las Almas returning to SFIAF followed by the east coast tour to present contemporary tango music that will open your mind and break your stereotype of "Tango" music. Heyni & Sumi’s program is a reflection of their diverse musical backgrounds, and the tango journey they have taken together. The duo with guest artists Basma Edrees (Violin) & Teresa Tam (Voice) will present a mixture of a few classic tangos, their own compositions, and contemporary tangos that have been specially commissioned for a piano/bandoneon duo, which will be recorded in 2023 -2024. Sumi and Heyni hope to show their audience the diverse richness that tango has to offer.

Las Almas regresa a SFIAF seguido de la gira de mid west para presentar música de tango contemporánea que abrirá su mente y romperá su estereotipo de música "Tango". El programa de Sumi & Heyni es un reflejo de sus diversos antecedentes musicales y el viaje de tango que han realizado juntos. El dúo con los artistas invitados Basma Edrees (Violín) y Teresa Tam (Voz) presentará una mezcla de algunos tangos clásicos, composiciones propias y tangos contemporáneos especialmente encargados para un dúo de piano y bandoneón, que serán grabados en 2023 -2024. Sumi y Heyni esperan mostrarle a su audiencia la riqueza diversa que el tango tiene para ofrecer.

Sumi Lee and Heyni Solera both started their musical lives as classical musicians. Sumi Lee has been playing classical piano since the age of four and obtained her Masters from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Heyni Solera started as a classically trained pianist but is now a bandoneonist and ethnomusicologist. What drew this dynamic duo together was their mutual passion for contemporary tango music. Both Sumi and Heyni studied in some of the most prestigious Argentine tango orchestras schools, such as La Orquesta Escuela de Emilio Balcarce, La Orquesta de Tango de la Una, and the Conservatorio Superior de “Manuel de Falla,” and have studied and performed with leading contemporary tango composers such Ramiro Boero, Victor Lavallen, Pablo Estigarribia, Julian Peralta, Santiago Segret, among others.

Artist Biographies

Heyni Solera
Praised for her “soulful bandoneón” (Washington Classical Review), Heyni Solera is a sought-after bandoneonist in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Over the past year, Solera has launched her career on the international stage with her orchestra and chamber music performances in Argentina and Australia and continues to collaborate with prominent musicians in the tango music scene. She participated in leading tango music festivals in North America, such as the Stowe Tango Music Festival in Stowe, VT, Tango for Musicians at Reed College in Portland, OR, and the Cuarteto Tanguero Workshop in Toronto, Canada. Her desire to deepen her knowledge of the instrument led her to spend 2019 in Buenos Aires, where she continued her studies with renowned Prof. Santiago Segret & Prof. Ramiro Boero. She has performed with the Orquesta de Tango de la UNA, Orquesta Escuela Orlando Goñi, Orquesta de Tango del Conservatorio Superior de Musica Manuel de Falla, and Ensemble de Tango de la UNSAM under the direction of Ariel Pirotti, Julian Peralta, Adrian Enriquez, and Ramiro Gallo, respectively. Upon returning to the United States, she started new projects such as the highly praised IN Series productions of Le Cabaret de Carmen at Source Theatre in Washington, D.C., and at the Baltimore Theatre Project in Baltimore, Maryland, as a member of a tango duo Arco & Aire. She has also worked with Carpe Diem Arts, Quartertonez Music, and as a Tango Sin Fin’s World Ambassador. Her projects include Today’s Tango with Heyni, a mini-series that features today’s contemporary tango musicians throughout the world, and a recording project with Arco & Aire to be presented live in an east coast tour. Also a music scholar, she recently completed her Master of Music degree in Ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. https://heynisolera.com/

Sumi Lee
Sumi Lee is a classically trained pianist with a master’s degree in music, in piano performance, from the SF Conservatory of Music. She worked with bay area opera companies and schools until she auditioned to grab a life-changing opportunity at “La Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce”, the prestigious tango orchestra school in Argentina. While getting trained in Tango in Buenos Aires, she studied & performed with living maestros and musical directors such as Víctor Lavallén, Jose Colangelo, Osvaldo Piro, Roberto Alvarez, Daniel Binelli, Mauricio Marcelli, Pablo Estigarribia, Cristian Asato, Nicolas Ledesma, and many more. She performed many concerts with the orchestra Including the concert at Teatro General San Martin in Buenos Aires which was sold out and aired live via national radio 2*4 and TV. Since returning to SF in 2019, she has performed numerous concerts in SF - Bay Area, NYC, Philadelphia, Portland, South Korea, and Toronto. Currently, she leads the group “Las Almas” and performs east & west coast such as SF International Arts Festival & Sebastopol Arts. She recorded the “Gobbi Inedíto” album and currently working on a new album for the Bandoneón & Piano duo of new compositions. Lee is a widely respected piano teacher and served as a chair of the board for the San Francisco branch of California’s Music Teachers’ Association for 10 years. http://www.sumilee.com

Basma Edrees
Basma Edrees is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she received her Master's in Violin Performance and Mannes School of Music where she received her Bachelor's degree. She studied with Joseph Lin, Laurie Smukler, Sally Thomas, and Catherine Van Hoesen. Basma has performed under the batons of many great conductors including Alan Gilbert and Daniel Barenboim. Basma has served as Associate Concert Master of the Oakland Symphony during their 2015-2016 season. Through the music of Astor Piazzolla, Basma was introduced to the world of Argentine Tango music where she encountered some of the most beautiful lyrical melodies she had ever heard. Playing Tango, Basma found a medium where her Western classical training and her Arab musical heritage sentiments could unite. Basma studied Tango violin with Guillermo Rubino, the director of strings at the Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce. www.basmaedreesviolin.com

Teresam Tam
Teresa Tam grew up playing violin in orchestras and singing in choirs since her childhood in Taiwan. As an undergrad, Teresa made her solo debut with the prestigious American Bach Soloists right here in the Bay Area performing the Magnificat in D Major BWV 243 by J.S. Bach. She has had the honor of performing as a soloist under the direction of conductors Jeffrey Thomas, Joshua Rifkin, and more. After receiving her M.M. in vocal performance from Boston University, she then began collaborating in various duos with jazz guitarists and performed as a featured soloist with jazz bands around the Bay Area. She rediscovered Argentine Tango both as a dancer and vocalist in 2018 and was once again pulled into the mesmerizing world of Tango music. After attending the Tango for Musician program with Tango Sin Fin, she continued to collaborate with Tango musicians and performed all over the SF Bay Area. In 2019, the voice and guitar Duo Telar was born with Argentine tango guitarist, arranger, and musical director Maxi Larrea (www.maxilarrea.com). Together, they weave different genres of music and breathe new life into beautiful familiar melodies with playful harmonies and arrangements. When she is not busy performing, she is empowering others by working as a vocal coach (www.teresatammusic.com) and crafting custom modern portraitures as a photographer for clients worldwide www.teresatamstudio.com