Lehman Center for the Performing Arts and Goya Foods is proud to present the Historic Reunion of SOPHY & FAUSTO REY on Saturday, April 13th, 2019 at 8 p.m. After more than FOUR decades the international artists of several generations will meet for the first time at Lehman Center to present what will undoubtedly be a historic concert. Produced by Lehman Center and Leo Tizol.
This concert continues the completion of the first phase of renovations at Lehman Center for the Performing Arts. Concert goers will find that the lobbies have been upgraded for ADA compliance with new ramps and carpeting, and the interior of the theater will have new seating, carpeted aisles, and finished flooring as well. The $15.4 million dollar refurbishment of the Center, which is expected to be completed by mid-2019, will also include 5,400 square feet of enlarged space, with a new main entrance and a redesigned box office, plus new administration offices and restroom facilities on the first and mezzanine floors, and an elevator. The Center seats 2,278 people in the concert hall and is the largest of its kind in the borough. Funding for the project is being provided by the Office of the Governor, the New York State Legislature, the Bronx delegation of the New York City Council, and the Office of the Bronx Borough President. Additional funding is being raised with a seat naming initiative, which allows community members to make a personal connection with one of New York City’s most important not-for-profit entertainment venues.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for SOPHY & FAUSTO REY on Saturday, April 13th, 2019 at 8 p.m. are $125*VIP, $75, $65, and $50, and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., and beginning at 4 p.m. on the day of the concert), or through online access at www.Lehma
SOPHY de Puerto Rico was born in Agaudilla, Puerto Rico, grew up in San Sebastian, and has recorded in multiple musical genres, including salsa, merengue, bachata, ballads, bolero, flamenco and rumba. Sophy started her artistic career singing on the Puerto Rican television show La Nueva Ola. Moving to New York City in the late 1960’s, she joined Tito Puente’s orchestra as a vocalist and performed weekly on his radio show Tito Puente y Su Mundo Latino. Puente produced Sophy’s first two albums Tito Puente Con Orgullo… Sophy (1969), that featured her first hit ‘La Última Palabra’ and Te Reto (1970). Signing with the Velvet de Venezuela label, she released her self-titled album Sophy the following year, which spawned the hits ‘Te Apuesto’, ‘Los Reyes Magos’, and ‘Será, Será’. Her much acclaimed next album, Yo Soy Mujer Y No Soy Una Santa (1972), dominated the airwaves in Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Columbia with its abundance of hits including ‘Locuras Tengo De Ti’, ‘Estoy Sola’, ‘Muchacho Malo’, ‘Perdón’, ‘Cuéntale A Ella’, and ‘Canción Para Una Esposa Triste’. Sophy’s next two albums also contained multiple hits like ‘Usted Ya Me Olvidó’, ‘Te Acordarás de Mí’, ‘Me Muero Por Estar Contigo’, ‘Una Noche Por Mes’, and ‘Qué Vas A Hacer Sin Mí’. She became so popular that she began playing to very large audiences worldwide, including Madison Square Garden in NYC, and she also performed with Fausto Rey for 30,000 fans at the Santo Domingo Olympic Stadium in the Dominican Republic. During her long and prolific career, Sophy has recorded over thirty albums and has received more than 400 international awards, including Gold and Platinum records.
FAUSTO REY is a Dominican Republic born and raised singer songwriter and guitarist with a smooth style that can range from romantic ballads, boleros, waltz, salsa, merengues, bossa novas, blues and jazz. During his teens, he performed in the local groups Los Magnéticos and the Brahmins in his hometown of La Romana before joining Johnny Ventura’s Orchestra. Signing with 4Points Records, he recorded his first album Fausto Rey in 1970 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Due to the success of that record, he returned to Argentina to record five additional albums for 4Points. Joining Fania Records, Rey released El Amor Es Natural in 1977, 1979’s salsa album La Responsabilidad with Larry Harlow and his Orchestra with Adalberto Santiago and Nestor Sanchez in the chorus, and a duo album with the legendary Dominican singer Rafael Colón – Rafael Colón y Fausto Interpretan a: Juan Lockward (1982). Forming his own merengue orchestra, Fausto released the hit song ‘El Pájaro Herido’ and followed up with the album Mi Linda Música Merengue (1984) which contained the hits ‘De Que Priva Maria’, ‘Brindemos Más Amor’, and ‘Se Va La Vida’. Since then he has recorded five additional albums, the most recent being the moving and bittersweet Bachata a Media Voz.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council. The 2018-2019 Season is also made possible through the sponsorships by Goya Foods, New York State Council on the Arts, Con Edison, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, Havana Café, and the Friends of Lehman Center.
