Tribute to the traditional Local conductor leads tribute to Merengue in the Dominican Republic By Jessica Rosero union City Hudson Reporter staff writer Oct 07, 2007

"The event consisted of finding boleros from the Dominican Republic from the 1960s to today, and transforming them into merengue," said Enyi. But why? While boleros have always been soft and usually romantic ballads, merengues are known for that fast rhythmic dance beats. "Because we believe that the [true] merengue has deteriorated today," said Enyi. "We reunited this form of music with that form of music." According to Enyi, at one time the merengue was very similar to boleros in their lyrics, which were typically romantic. Very different to the merengue dance music of today often with lyrics that some don't agree with.

One of the Dominican Republic's signature sounds could be heard throughout all the provinces of the country on Sept. 17 with the televised concert event "El Merengue se Llena de Bolero Unplugged" (The Merengue is filled with Bolero) featuring the traditional orchestra accompaniment. Known as the official dance and music of the Dominican Republic, merengue is a marriage of fast-paced tempo, brass, and percussion, which is typical of some Latin Caribbean music. However, in today's computerized world big bands have been replaced with few instrumentalists and music software. "Orchestras have been reduced to no more than four to five musicians," said Enyi-K, orchestra conductor and Union City resident. "To conduct a good merengue you need about 10 to 11 musicians." "El Merengue se Llena de Bolero Unplugged" is a tribute concert to the heyday of merengue music. Bringing back tradition The event consisted of a number of famous songs from the 1980s, and also had another twist. In addition to celebrating the music, they also took some of the country's famous boleros (ballads) and transformed them into traditional merengue.

"The lyrics used to touch upon the social issues of the day, love, and they would give a message," said Enyi. "Today's composers have not committed to this tradition, and have thought only about rhythm without thinking about the message." "The merengue traditionally was very rich in harmony and instrumentals," he added. "I want the youth to take this event as an example, that the merengue can still be orchestrated in this grand form." Celebrating the music The country's Superintendencia de Valores, which is similar to the U.S. stock market, sponsored the live concert last May in the capital city of Santo Domingo. The event brought together some of the most renowned merengue stars from the 1980s forward, accompanied by a live orchestra under the direction of Enyi-K "We did a live concert, where they represented the glorious days of merengue during the 1980s," said NG. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Enyi also performed with the famed Dominican orchestra Kenton during the beginnings of his music career. Over the last several years Enyi has continuously traveled to his homeland as an honored guest and performer, receiving recognitions from both the music world and from government dignitaries.. "It has been one of my biggest honors to direct this historical event along orchestra that big, and to direct that many masters of merengue," said Enyi.

ENYI-K THE PIANIST AND ARTIST!!! 2/21/10 by MATTHEW AMATO Columnist Feb 21, 2010 | 1263 views | 0 | 19 | |

Union City Board of Education Trustee Kennedy Ng, a-k-a Enyi-K, the piano musical artist and his musical trio, was born in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. His father, Manuel who was from Canton, China is now deceased, and his mother Caridad, from the Dominican Republic, is now living in Union City. Raised in Union City, Mr. Ng achieved his bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1987, and a master’s degree in music education, in 1990, both at New Jersey City University in Jersey City. For the past 27-years, Mr. Ng has been the founder of the Kennedy Music School and Recording Studio in Union City, and became a member of the Union City Board of Education as a trustee in 2005. Mr. Ng is married to his lovely wife Mayerlin, who was also born in Santo Domingo and raised in Union City, and who has also achieved a bachelor’s degree in business administration from New Jersey City University. Together they are co-owners of their musical school in Union City, and she is an employee for the Union City

Board of Education in the Business Administrator’s Office of Anthony Dragona since 2004. Mr. Ng has been a commissioner on the Hudson County Planning Board since 2006, and is presently a member of the New Jersey School Boards Association. Musically speaking, Mr. Ng has appeared as a pianist on Santo Domingo Television, and has also promoted his music on Santo Domingo Radio there! He proudly states that he will be conducting the Dominican Republic Symphony Orchestra in Santo Domingo this coming June, 2010! He also proudly states that he has been the musical director of the Union City Orchestra since 2005, and has also performed at various events throughout Union City! Mr. Ng as Enyi-K, as a pianist, conductor, and composer, is highly known for his great Latin, jazz, and classical music, and has played and recorded with many world famous singers and musicians. Mr. Ng lists some of his main influences as Michael Camilo and Chick Corea. Mr. Ng also touts his loving mother in his love of music, as she registered him in the public elementary school in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, as a child. To the age of 17, he was playing with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of the Dominican Republic. He studied for nine years at the National Conservatory where such artists like Michael Camilo and Juan Luis Guerra also studied. Thus, his loving mother had a huge impact on his love of music. From there he got to enjoy the Big Band Era music of Glen Miller and George Taveras, who is a well know Latin and Jazz Dominican pianist! Mr. Ng also has performed at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan and at The White House in 1981 for the Cuban Independence Day ceremony! Mr. Ng has also performed with such famous Latin singers and Musicians like Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Johnny Ventura, and Iris Chacon, to name but a few! Locally, he was asked to be the “first” to perform at the Union City High School Performing Arts Center, which was an honor for him as a school board trustee! However, after all of this wonderful music activity, Mr. Ng tells us that for leisure time, that he is a New York Yankees and New York Knicks fan! Mr. Kennedy Ng; All the best!!! … Read more: Hudson Reporter - ENYI K THE PIANIST AND ARTIST 2 21 10

Please don’t stop the music Local activist honored during Hispanic Heritage Month by Gennarose Pope Reporter staff writer Kennedy Ng, known on the music circuit as Enyi-K, sat at his piano in the performance room of his recording studio at Kennedy’s Music World on Bergenline Avenue in Union City recently. There, he and his partner give a variety of instrumental and vocal lessons to between 50 and 55 students each week and record a plethora of artists. He had just come from his 9-to-4 job as executive director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Program to begin the four-to-two part of his work day. _____________ “When I make music, I am born again.” – Kennedy Ng____________ On Oct. 12 of this year, Ng received a Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Support and performed a medley of international songs at the ceremony held by HUD during Hispanic Heritage Month. How does he do it? “I love coffee,” he said. “If you want to do something good for the community, you have to spend a lot of hours.” The path of a prodigy Ng was born in the Dominican Republic to his English mother and Cantonese father (hence the last name). When he was 5, his mother registered him in a music school in the country’s capital of Santo Domingo. Three years later, he transferred to the prestigious National Conservatory of Music to study piano. While his education there was mostly

classical, Ng said, he was heavily influenced by the stylings of Chick Corea, Glen Miller, and renowned Latin jazz pianist Jorge Taveras. At 17, Ng played piano with the Dominican National Philharmonic Orchestra. “I was lucky,” he said. “If you have talent and good teachers, that combination makes magic.” Ng’s mother brought him to Union City when he was 18. He went on to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education from Jersey City State College (now Jersey City University), and in 1987, he returned to school for a dual bachelor’s in music therapy and psychology. Ng is a music therapist to this day, though on a volunteer basis. He works with local adults — one-on-one and in groups — and uses music to engage “people who are very lonely” and help ease the symptoms of various psychological disorders. After years of community service, it’s time for music Enyi-K has performed at such prestigious venues as the White House, Radio City Music Hall, B.B. King’s, and Lincoln Center. He has performed with and conducted Tito Puente, Johnny Pacheco, and Fernando Villalona. In 2000, he wrote the scores for Premios ACE at Lincoln Center — “it’s like the Latin Grammys,” he said. In 2009, he played with Tito Puente Jr. at Union City High School to christen the brand new auditorium. He records world-famous bands in his recording studio at Kennedy Music World and has composed and recorded the music for various commercials for NBC, Telemundo, and Univision. Gennarose Pope may be reached at [email protected]

3/6/12

Piano Virtuoso Kennedy Ng and Tito Puente Jr. in Union City | NJ.com

Site Search

Sign in | Register for free

Brought to you by:

Search Local Business Listings

Search for keywords, people, locations, obituaries, Web ID and more...

Home

News

Weather

Sports

Entertainment

Living

Interact

Jobs

Autos

Real Estate

New Jersey Photo Gallery

Rentals

Classifieds

Sponsored By:

View New Jersey News, Community, Sports, Weather Images & Pictures

Piano Virtuoso Kennedy Ng and Tito Puente Jr. in Union City Search for Photos Subject, keyword, photographer, tag... All Categories

All Dates

Return to Home Page

Popular Photo Tags Tuesday, September 29, 2009 4:47 PM

baseball boysbasketball

Inappropriate photo? Alert us.

boysicehockey boyssoccer Recommend

By hiller1971 Follow

0

The Union City High School Grand Opening Gala featured performances by both Kennedy Ng and Tito Puente Jr. The Kenndy Ng Trio, ENYI-K opened the show at the inaugural concert, with many

davidohlerking.com Faces of

Jersey fall colors fishing football

giants-super-bowl-xlii girlsbasketb girlssoccer halloween jersey-city New Jersey

HS Spor

New Jers

Jr. provided a memorial tribute to many of his fathers songs. Tito brought the crowd to thier feet

Artists New Jersey Pets NJ NJ.com Shore shore snow

when he was joined by the Union City High School Marching Band.

wrestling

familiar tunes and his own composition of "The Sad Piano", before a standing ovation. Tito Puente

Share this photo

Story tools

Email

Print

Related galleries Related topics union-city-hudson-county

photos.nj.com/photogallery/2009/09/piano_virtuoso_kennedy_ng_and.html

1/2

New Jersey Photo Gallery

View New Jersey News, Community, Sports, Weather Images & Pictures

Kennedy Ng and the ENYI-K Trio

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 4:22 PM Inappropriate photo? Alert us.

0 By hiller1971 Follow Kennedy Ng and the ENYI-K Trio are the first musicians to perform on stage at the Union City High School Grand Opening Gala, Saturday, September 26th, 2009 The piano virtuoso, Kennedy Ng was accompanied on drums by Edward LaFontant, a recent Union Hill High School Graduate

*

Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de Nueva York Association of Latin Entertainment Critics of New York *

PREMIOS EXTRAORDINARIOS (fuera de concurso)

ACE 2012 GANADORES Introducción

Historia de la ACE

EXTRAORDINARIO ---------------------------------------------------------1. Premio Extraordinario ACE 2012 por Distinción y Mérito:

ACE History

Directorio

Comisionados

2012 / Ganadores

Miembros activos

Entidad con Historia

Imágenes Recientes

ERIK ESTRADA ---------------------------------------------------------PREMIOS INSTITUCIONALES ---------------------------------------------------------2. Premio ACE-Silvia Brito 2012: ALFREDO MUNAR ---------------------------------------------------------3. Premio ACE-René Buch 2012: CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ ---------------------------------------------------------4. Premio ACE-Miriam Colón 2012: FERNANDO TRUEBA ----------------------------------------------------------

--------------69. Personalidad Masculina del Año: RAFAEL BRITO Canal 35 / Time-Warner ---------------------------------------------------------70. Personalidad Femenina del Año: MAYRA LA PAZ Canal 35 / Time-Warner ---------------------------------------------------------DISTINCIONES ESPECIALES ---------------------------------------------------------71. Distinción Empresarial del Año: HECTOR DELGADO --------------------------------------------

--------------72. Personalidad Musical del Año: ENYI-K ---------------------------------------------------------© 2012 Premios ACE All rights reserved.!

DE TODO UN POCO

“Libertad para construir una sociedad digna”

EDICION 10 DE MAYO, 2012-AÑO III-ETAPA III

13

Hermanas Márquez a ritmo de guaracha en Union City

E

l martes 29 de mayo el Union City Performing Arts Center dará un homenaje espectacular a las legendarias Hermanas Márquez. Será un recorrido por la vida musical de estas chispeantes hermanitas que pasearon sus guarachas, desde el Palladium y el Apolo de New York y los principales teatro de México y el mundo. Un homenaje a las despampanantes mulatas del cine mexicano en su época de oro, que hicieron exclamar a Cantinflas, ¡Ay, mamacitas! Un homenaje a las venerables Hermanas Márquez de hoy, que recibieron el Grammy a toda su vida artística en el 2011, y que nos dan la fórmula de la eterna juventud: ¡vivir la vida a ritmo de guaracha! Los ritmos cubanos han hecho

bailar al mundo, pero la guaracha es el más contagioso, pícaro, irreverente. Las letras de las guarachas son una trompetilla musical que no respeta jerarquías. Para entender a Cuba, donde todos opinan de todo, al mismo tiempo y, en voz alta, hay que parar la oreja a cada guaracha bullanguera, como las que cantaba Celia Cruz Bemba Colorá, y las Hermanas Márquez: Por medio peso, La Mazucamba, La Firulítica, Negro de sociedad… y tantísimas con las que animarán su homenaje en compañía de muchos artistas. En la escena del bellísimo UC Performing Art Center, estarán Meme Solís, el mago de las teclas, creador del afamado cuarteto, a la chispeante charanga Yerason, con sus violines de fuego, a la cancionera Lourdes

López, los cubanísimos bailarines Pedro Domec y Rita Marcía, y muchos artistas mas (no los anunciamos porque nos han pedido mantener la sorpresa). Se proyectarán a las Hermanitas Márquez, cantando en películas mexicanas y cubanas, a Cantinflas guaracheando, a Pototo y Filomeno haciendo de las suyas. Y a las Hermanas Márquez de hoy, cantando con arrolladora juventud. La dirección y animación del espectáculo estará a cargo de Armando López y el auspicio del alcalde de Union City y su junta de comisionados. El Union City Performing Art Center esta localizado en el 2600 Kennedy Blvd., Union City. La hora: 7 PM. del martes 29 de mayo. Entrada gratis.

Enyi-K “Mejor Arreglista Musical 2012” ACE

EL ARTISTA dominicano posee y continúa cosechando éxitos a nivel nacional e internacional, como "virtuoso del piano y arreglista musical" habiendo producido verdaderos éxitos que se escuchan en salas importantes alrededor del mundo.

E

l reconocido pianista dominicano radicado en el Estado de Nueva Jersey, Enyi-K, fue reconocido como "El Mejor Arreglista Musical del Año" por la Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de la Ciudad de Nueva York (ACE). La premiación tomó lugar durante la celebración de la Cuadragésima Cuarta edición de esta entidad, que reconoce a los mejores en el Arte Latinoamericano radicados en los Estados Unidos y en diversas partes del mundo.

Enyi-K agradeció a los cronistas de espectáculos y organizadores del evento, y a su público que lo acompaña en cada una de sus presentaciones. El artista dominicano posee y continúa cosechando éxitos a nivel nacional e internacional, como "virtuoso del piano y arreglista musical" habiendo producido verdaderos éxitos que se escuchan en salas importantes alrededor del mundo, como en El Teatro Nacional en la República Dominicana, donde fue productor del espectáculo más valioso en la isla caribeña de los últimos tiempos, "Cuando se nace ídolo" homenaje a El Mayimbe Fernando Villalona, los Premios ACE 2000 en Lincoln Center, Manhattan Center, entre otros. Enyi-K tuvo el honor de producir el arreglo musical de la apertura de los Premios ACE que se realizó recientemente en el Kauffman Center de la ciudad de Nueva York. El público lo aplaudió al concluir dicha pieza musical, que se convirtió en el himno de los Premios ACE. En el año 2000, Enyi-K fue el director musical de los Premios ACE donde dirigió la presentación de Rocío Jurado, José José, entre otras estrellas del arte latinoamericano. La Ceremonia de los Premios ACE, fue inaugurada por el presidente de la entidad, Fernando Campo, quien ofreció el discurso central del magno evento que se realizó en el Merkin Concert Hall de la Avenida Broadway. Otras estrellas hispanas también fueron reconocidas como Ismael Cala de la cadena CNN, Lumi Lizardo, Tongolele y la cantante dominicana Mayury Reyna galardona como "Artista Visitante".

Lissette lanza disco de retorno

¡

Vuelve Lissette! Tras una brillante trayectoria musical, innumerables premios internacionales, doce discos de Oro, once premios Emmy y cientos de "sold-outs", la cantante y compositora Lissette presenta "Soles" su álbum número 50 que sale a la venta el15 de mayo. Heredera de un gran talento para los escenarios gracias la extraordinaria carrera de sus padres, el legendario dúo Olga y Tony, LISSETTE comenzó a cantar de niña en su natal Cuba. Su carrera llegó a la cima apenas siendo una adolescente en Puerto Rico. En muy poco tiempo se convirtió en una de las artistas más famosos e influyentes en el mundo del pop Latino. Su larga lista de grandes éxitos incluye: "Lo voy a dividir", "Copacabana", "Si un día te sientes solo", "Eva", "Palabras", "Poema 20", "Martes", "2 de la tarde", "Quiéreme", "Descártame", "A veces", "Mal sueño" y "Eclipse total del amor", entre muchos otros. Sus álbumes más vendidos han marcado a más de una generación. Asimismo, ha actuado en las principales salas de conciertos, prestigiosos clubes nocturnos y ha recibido una gran cantidad de

premios por su labor profesional y humanitaria. "Soles" es una pieza muy especial para Lissette ya que la producción reúne canciones de algunos de sus compositores favoritos. El álbum, distribuido bajo el sello Latinum Music - Selecto Hits, está dedicado a sus leales admiradores imprimiendo así la genialidad musical de esta gran artista. "Soles" contiene una docena de temas, entre ellos "Soles", "¿Dónde empezar?", "Tú, la noche y yo", "Dos, "Habáname", "Me faltarás", "Y pienso en ti", "Si supieras", "Como una campana", "Si hay amor", "Volverá", "Where Do You Start?" y "Tarde gris" corte con el que estrena esta pieza de colección.