Lawn concert on tap to feature Latin American music at Monroeville Public Library

Monroeville Public Library will hold a lawn concert celebrating music from Latin America on Sept. 27.

“Lawn Concert! Diamete Trìo with Lilly Abreu: Music of Latin America” will begin at 7 p.m. and run through 8:30. Admission will be free to the public with chairs available for seating. Attendees are also permitted to bring their own chairs.

It will mark the third time Diamete Trìo has performed at the library. The band includes Mary Beth Malek (clarinet), Paula Tuttle (cello) and Juan Jaramillo (violin). They will be joined by Abreu, a Brazilian soprano.

“They did a very similar concert twice before,” said Mark Hudson, library head of adult programming. “They were both very well attended. Big crowds. We did them in-person in the gallery space. Now we’re doing this one outside because of the pandemic. We feel like it’s still a bit early to be doing them inside with that big of a crowd.”

Because of covid-19 restrictions, indoors events at the library are restricted to no more than 13 people. Hudson said the library hosted as many as 60 guests during past concerts

“We’re hoping we’ll get that many,” Hudson said. “It’ll be outside. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. I know the community here has always been very enthusiastic about attending our concerts. So, it’s great to be able to do it again.”

Guests will be asked to maintain several feet of distance, Hudson said.

“We feel like, hopefully, this will be the start of a transition back to in-person events again,” he said. “It may take time. The Dcovid numbers are still pretty high. They’ve even been going up recently. So, we’re just playing it by ear, hoping that this will be the first step.

“We’ll try to spread people out. It’s a big lawn. People will be kind of spread out there. … I will be there to suggest people keep the chairs not too close together.”

The plan for the concert was put together roughly a month ago. Tuttle met with Hudson to decide on the date, eventually agreeing on Sept. 27.

This will be the first adult program held outside at the library since the start of the pandemic. A few outdoors events from the children’s department have occurred, the first being a children’s story time on July 13.

Alice Rathjen, library public relations contractor, said the concert will provide a chance for guests to learn more about the space surrounding the building.

“We’re also showing them about additional locations within the library that we do programs at,” Rathjen said. “A lot of times, we’ll mention the backyard and people will say, ‘I didn’t know you had a backyard.’ … It’ll sort of give people a taste of, ‘Look at this amazing large area and all that can go back there for the community to enjoy.’”

Diamete Trìo, a University of Pittsburgh Year of Diversity grant recipient, has performed more than 60 concerts in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties since 2018. A CD of their album No More Blues will be available to purchase at the event.

Abreu has performed with choirs and chamber ensembles in Brazil, Spain, France, Portugal, Argentina and the United States. In dubbing Disney movies for Brazilian audiences, she has recorded Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Bambi and others.

“They tend to do a lot of bossa nova, a lot of Brazilian music,” Hudson said. “Lilly Abreu is from Brazil and will be doing some of the classic songs from that tradition. … It’ll be heavily focused on the Brazilian component, but other songs from Latin America, as well.”