Frank Leto is an artist whose lifelong pursuit of musical knowledge has led him to appreciate and draw from a number of cultures and musical genres. Because of his love for rhythms, Leto has travelled throughout the Caribbean and has toured Japan, the Philippines, and Hawaii. While in Cuba, he studied with numerous honorable musicians at the Escuela Nacional de Arte. As a talented instrumentalist, Leto plays Brazilian percussion, Afro-Cuban percussion, and Trinidadian steel drums. With his band PANdemonium, he is featured on vocals, steel drums, and percussion. Leto’s music has won multiple national awards; he has recorded a number of solo CD’s, as well as with his band PANdemonium.
Pilar Leto is the founder and director of the Odara Dance Ensemble who has been performing and teaching dance for over 25 years throughout the United States, Japan, and the Philippines, and most recently in Albuquerque. Through her extensive travels, Pilar was fortunate to study for three consecutive years at the Escuela Nacional de Arte with premier dancers of the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional and Raíces Profundas. Under Pilar’s direction, the Odara Dance Ensemble is a culmination of multi-talented performers, who come from diverse musical and dance backgrounds.
The mission of the National Hispanic Cultural Center is the preservation and promotion of Hispanic arts and humanities at the state, national and international levels. The NHCC is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs.