Afro-Cuban Music Highlights Series

(ceylonmitchell.com photo by Margot Schulmann)

Celebrate Latin America Heritage Month with Dr. Ceylon Mitchell, ensemble Raíces Negras, and an evening of joyous Afro-Cuban music at the Jo Ricks Music Series at St. George’s Episcopal Church.

The concert will be held at 7:30pm Friday, September 26, 2025. 

Dr. Mitchell leads Raíces Negras, a music collective celebrating Black and Latino voices across the Americas. The group respects traditional genres while also bending and blending them with improvisatory intersections. The collective has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center and consists of world-class musicians hailing from the US, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Brazil, Bulgaria, Haiti, and beyond.

Bringing musical curiosity, virtuosity, and creativity to the ensemble, they each maintain busy schedules as sidemen and solo artists in their own right.

Watch a Raíces Negras video here.

St. George’s is at 19167 Poplar Hill Lane in Valley Lee.

Tickets for Music from Poplar Hill concert September 26 may be purchased here.

A special concert with Dr. Ceylon Mitchell and Raíces Negras will be offered at 4:30pm Thursday, September 25, at the Carver Recreation Center at 47382 Lincoln Ave. in Lexington Park. Admission is free.

Future events at St. George’s:

From China to Appalachia at 7:30pm October 24. In an incredible fusion of musical sounds and styles, Grammy- winning banjo artists Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have formed a trio with Chinese dulcimer virtuoso Chao Tian.

The Seipp Kasparian Trumpet and Piano Duo at 7:30pm December 5. It’s no secret that the best of the best brass players are accepted into “Pershing’s Own” Army Band. Trumpeter Chuck Seipp recently retired from Pershing’s Own and is touring the Eastern US as a duo recitalist with virtuoso pianist Raffi Kasparian. Also a veteran of “Pershing’s Own,” Mr. Kasparian joins Chuck Seipp in an evening of brilliant performances in the sanctuary at St. George’s.