Arturo Sandoval

Name: Arturo Sandoval
Start: 2026-06-21T19:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-06-21T20:00:00-04:00
Location: Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre

Schedule

Sun Jun 21 2026 at 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre | Rochester, NY

This is a Club Pass Series Show.
General Admission Seating.
No advance tickets are sold.
Entry is with a Club Pass or $40 at the door.
Buy 1, 3, or 9-Day Club Passes starting Nov 7 at 10AM exclusively at RochesterJazz.com.
About the Artist
2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, 10-time Grammy Award Winner, Emmy Award recipient, and six-time Billboard Award winner
A protégé of the legendary jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, ARTURO SANDOVAL was born in Artemisa, a small town in the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, on November 6, 1949, just two years after Gillespie became the first musician to bring Latin influences into American Jazz. Sandoval began studying classical trumpet at the age of twelve, but it didn’t take him long to catch the excitement of the jazz world. He has since evolved into one of the world’s most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist and composer.
He is one of the most dynamic and vivacious live performers of our time, and has been seen by millions at the Oscars, at the Grammy Awards, and the Billboard Awards.
Sandoval has been awarded 10 Grammy Awards and nominated 19 times; he has also received 6 Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award. The latter for his composing work on the entire underscore for the HBO movie based on his life, “For Love or Country,” which starred Andy Garcia as Arturo. His two latest Grammy award-winning albums, “Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You” and Tango (Como Yo Te Siente), are now available worldwide. Arturo Sandoval’s newest CD, Eternamente Manzanero. Performing the music of revered Mexican romantic pianist/singer, and songwriter Armando Manzanero, this is a true labor of love. Performing Senor Manzanero’s music with co-headliner Jorge Calandrelli, the album is a fresh, modern and pleasant take on his beautiful bolero music.
Recently released is a new book chronicling his relationship with Dizzy Gillespie, entitled “The Man Who Changed My Life.” Arturo is also the 2013 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Sandoval was a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning group Irakere, whose explosive mixture of jazz, classical, rock and traditional Cuban music caused a sensation throughout the entertainment world. In 1981, he left Irakere to form his own band, which garnered enthusiastic praise from critics and audiences all over the world, and continues to do so.
Sandoval is also a renowned classical musician, performing regularly with leading symphony orchestras worldwide. Arturo has composed his own “Concerto for Trumpet & Orchestra”, which can be heard on “Arturo Sandoval: “The Classical Album.” Arturo has performed with the foremost orchestras in the country and abroad, and has recorded John Williams’ Trumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. His classical artistry has earned him the respect and admiration of the most prestigious conductors, composers, and symphony orchestras worldwide.
Arturo Sandoval’s versatility can be heard on recordings with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Woody Shaw, Michel Legrand, Josh Groban, Tony Bennett, Bill Conti, and Stan Getz to Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Rod Stewart, and Alicia Keys, amongst many others. He has performed with John Williams with the Boston Pops, and in the Super bowl with Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle.
His compositions can also be heard in movies including “1001 to 1” starring Beau Bridges, “At Middleton” starring Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga, Dave Grusin’s soundtrack for “Havana” and “Random Heart”, in the “Mambo Kings” soundtrack with his Grammy nominated composition “Mambo Caliente”, in the soundtrack of “The Perez Family”, “61”, “Mr. Wrong”, the documentary “Oscar”, and “The Family Fuentes” among of others. The Kennedy Center also commissioned him to compose the music for the ballet “Pepito’s Story”, “Soul Possessed”, as well as “Oman O Men”, and “The Chocolate Hot Nutcracker, choreographed by Debbie Allen.
And as mentioned above, he was awarded an Emmy for his composing work on the entire underscore of the HBO movie based on his life, “For Love or Country,” starring Andy Garcia.
Arturo Sandoval reaches beyond the scope of mere effort. His struggles in Cuba and since his defection have given him greater energy and strength, urging him to achieve and surpass his childhood dreams. Filled with a virtuoso capability, he desires nothing more than to share his gift with others who feel the same intense adoration for music as he does. One frequently speaks of Arturo Sandoval’s virtuoso technical ability or his specialty in high notes, but he who has seen him on the piano, lyrically improvising a ballad, or has had the opportunity to enjoy the diversity of his music, through his compositions from the most straight ahead jazz, Latin jazz or classical, knows that Arturo Sandoval is a prominent musician, and one recognizes that Arturo is one of the most brilliant, multifaceted and renowned musicians of our time.