bomba y pena
Richmond, Virginia
Photo:Joey Wharton
Kadencia is a 13-piece orchestra comprised of professional musicians that have toured with some of the best local and internationally renowned bands in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region. Founded in Puerto Rico by singer-songwriter Maurice Sanabria-Ortiz and percussionist Roberto Candelario, Kadencia was reborn in late 2018, with the help of percussionists Maurice “Tito” Sanabria and Santos Ramirez, and now calls Richmond, Virginia its home base. The band has quickly made an impact in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States through performances that deliver heavy-hitting original music. The band uses bomba, plena, and salsa to promulgate Puerto Rican culture, educate audiences on the Island’s native musical expressions, and make audiences move in ways they never knew possible.
Kadencia's music and sounds pay homage and follow the traditions of plena from Western Puerto Rico. The lyrics of its songs are narrative in nature and describe various aspects of Puerto Rican society, culture, and traditions. Kadencia's leader utilizes bomba and plena's long-rooted storytelling traditions to vividly capture multiple aspects of the Puerto Rican experience on the U.S. territory and on the U.S. mainland.
In 2019, Kadencia's 13-piece band played multiple festivals and events including the Henrico Theater, headlined at the Que Pasa? Festival, opened Richmond's Latin Jazz and Salsa Festival, headlined at Viva RVA Hispanic Music Festival, played at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum's Puerto Rican Constitution Day celebration, and played a joint show with Richmond, VA Indie-salsa legends Bio Ritmo.
Kadencia also has a smaller ensemble that plays at and supports community events and workshops such as the Richmond Performing Arts Alliance (RPAA), Chester Library, and Chesterfield County's Festival de Musica. The band hosted a maraca-making workshop with artisans from Puerto Rico and provided bomba and plena workshops to students at Chesterfield-VA and Richmond-VA Public Schools. Kadencia is dedicated to conserving and promoting Afro-Puerto Rican music.
In 2020, Kadencia successfully hosted Richmond’s first bomba event titled Bombazo RVA. The event was free and open to the community. Bomba practitioners from Richmond and New York City demonstrated bomba dancing and drumming and discussed the history and importance of bomba as a traditional and folkloric Afro-Puerto Rican musical tradition and expression. Kadencia performed at George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium as part of the institution’s Black History Month Celebration. During this event, Kadencia discussed the historical context of bomba and plena musical traditions and how Afro-Puerto Ricans developed these art forms.