Fernando Villalona to Reflect on His Life, Music at New York Dominican Get Together

Fernando Villalona, el Mayimbe, one of the most important musicians of the Dominican Republic, will take the stage this time to talk about his life and more than four decades of musical career on Thursday, May 14 at the Museum of Arts and Design in the city of New York. The third Dominican Get Together (DGT) of the year in the Big Apple, an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), aims to once again promote understanding and
appreciation of Dominican culture, values and heritage, and to create opportunities for discussion of contemporary issues relevant to Dominican society in the homeland and abroad.

"After five years working in this program, it continues to be a pleasure for GFDD to reach out to the Dominican community living in the US and to all those interested in the Dominican culture, and bring them an array of interesting and pertinent themes and different ways to celebrate
the richness and diversity of the Dominican Republic”, said the Executive Director of GFDD, Natasha Despotovic.

In the conference with GFDD entitled "Fernando Villalona: Music as an Expression of the People," el Mayimbe will share a special evening
with the New York public and will talk about a career that has brought together more than 20 albums of merengue, cumbia, bachata, boleros and ballads that have entertained and touched the hearts of audiences around the world.

Born in Loma de Cabrera, Dajabón, Villalona began singing at an early age in the early 1970s and became popular after participating in "El Festival de la Voz", a television talent contest for amateurs. After singing with Wilfrido
Vargas in the group "Los Hijos del Rey" he assembled his own orchestra. Songs like "Tabaco y ron", "Celos" and "Soy Dominicano”, among others, became popular in the 1980s. After a break in his career for personal and health reasons, Fernando Villalona returned to the music charts in the 90s, with the reinterpretation of Joan Manuel Serrat’s song “Penelope." "Quisqueya",
"No Podrás”, “Música Latina" and "Me He Enamorado" were some of his biggest hits in the 1990s.

In 2012, Villalona recorded “El Color De Tu Mirada", with composer and American singer Victoria Daly. The song was nominated for Best Music Video at the Premios Soberano in 2013.

This event will be held at the Museum of Arts and Design, located at 2 Columbus Circle, New York. The event
is free and open to the public. The event will be held in Spanish.

For more information and R.S.V.P., please contact:
Kenia Hernández: kenia@globalfoundationdd.org / 212-751-5000
info@dominicangettogethers.org
www.dominicangettogethers.org