CU Tango Music Festival

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CU Tango Music Festival Bringing Argentine Tango music to Champaign-Urbana one concert at a time.

Milonga spirit forever
10/12/2026

Milonga spirit forever

10/11/2026

The beautiful folk and roots festival Milonga
CU Tango Music Festival CU Folk & Roots Festival ♥️💜

Join us for Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, today, October 10!4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar7 pm Intro to Dance ...
10/10/2026

Join us for Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, today, October 10!

4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar
7 pm Intro to Dance Class - Urbana Dance Company
8 pm Milonga - Urbana Dance Company (live music 9:30-10:30 pm)

Visit www.cutangomusic.org for more information

Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival is TOMORROW, October 10!4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar7 pm Intro to Dance Class -...
10/09/2026

Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival is TOMORROW, October 10!

4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar
7 pm Intro to Dance Class - Urbana Dance Company
8 pm Milonga - Urbana Dance Company (live music 9:30-10:30 pm)

Visit www.cutangomusic.org for more information

Join the Avalos Solera Duo and Teresa Tam for a fresh look at classic tangos and zamba, followed by Intro to Tango Dance with En-Chi Lin and our grand Milonga @ CU Folk and Roots Festival with DJ Khoi and the festival orchestra of 20+ musicians, including Rodrigo Avalos, Heyni Solera, Teresa Tam, Bandoneon Massacre, and guests.

Bandoneon Massacre and friends are back for Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, coming up October 10!4:15 pm Concert - ...
10/08/2026

Bandoneon Massacre and friends are back for Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, coming up October 10!

4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar
7 pm Intro to Dance Class - Urbana Dance Company
8 pm Milonga - Urbana Dance Company (live music 9:30-10:30 pm)

Visit www.cutangomusic.org for more information

Bandoneon Massacre

Bandoneon Massacre is a community tango orquesta collective based in Champaign-Urbana, IL. The ensemble was founded in 2011 by tango dancer, dance instructor, and bandoneonist Joe Grohens as part of a group of tango dance enthusiasts who wanted to dive deep into the world of tango music and learn how to play it.

While its members have varied, the love for tango has been consistent. Over 50 professional and amateur musicians have been a part of the group, including members of the Champaign-Urbana tango dance community, local musicians, and university students.

The group has primarily studied tango dance music from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s alongside selections from contemporary tango music composers and arrangers. Bandoneon Massacre has performed in a wide variety of events and venues, bringing the joy and passion of tango music for dancing and for listening to milongas (tango social dances), schools, community events, bars and breweries, and more.

Joining Bandoneon Massacre are guests Julia Driscoll (violin), Ben Medina (violin), and Craig Herrington (bandoneon).

Heyni Solera is back to perform at Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, coming up October 10!4:15 pm Concert - Gallery A...
10/06/2026

Heyni Solera is back to perform at Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, coming up October 10!

4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar
7 pm Intro to Dance Class - Urbana Dance Company
8 pm Milonga - Urbana Dance Company (live music 9:30-10:30 pm)

Visit www.cutangomusic.org for more information

Heyni Solera
Bandoneonist / Composer / Ethnomusicologist

Praised for her “soulful bandoneón” (Washington Classical Review), Heyni Solera is a sought-after bandoneonist in Washington, D.C.

Heyni has enjoyed a career in the US and abroad performing in Argentina, Canada and Australia and collaborating with prominent tango artists such as Ramiro Boero, Julian Peralta, Pablo Jaurena, Santiago Segret, Pedro Giraudo and many more.

Heyni is part of the cello/bandoneon duo, Arco & Aire, with cellist Maxfield Wollam-Fisher. Their arrangement of “La Bordona” won Best Latin Song for the 2022 Wammie awards, which can be found in their EP Overture. Heyni is also the other half of the Avalos-Solera Bandoneon Duo and a member of Las Almas, an ensemble which focuses on female tango musicians in a typically male-dominated genre.

Heyni received her Masters of Music in Ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. In April of 2022, Heyni had her Kennedy Center debut with the Latin-Grammy nominated PanAmerican Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the ensemble at the Argentine Embassy of Washington, DC. She also creates various content such as “Today’s Tango with Heyni”, a mini-series that features today’s contemporary tango musicians throughout the world, and “Discovering Troilo,” a mini-series that delves into the iconic style of Anibal Troilo’s tango orchestra.

Bandoneonist Rodrigo Avalos returns for Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, coming up October 10!4:15 pm Concert - Gall...
10/04/2026

Bandoneonist Rodrigo Avalos returns for Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, coming up October 10!

4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar
7 pm Intro to Dance Class - Urbana Dance Company
8 pm Milonga - Urbana Dance Company (live music 9:30-10:30 pm)

Visit www.cutangomusic.org for more information

Rodrigo Avalos
Bandoneon

Originally from Olavarría, Argentina, Rodrigo Avalos is a composer, bandoneonista, and guitar player.

Rodrigo has had a long career in music, having made numerous international tours and having played with musicians such as Victor Lavallén, José Colángelo, Roberto Alvarez, among others. He has released several albums, including “La Carmen” with his own tango orchestra and “Bach en Bandoneón” for bandoneon duo.

In 2023, Rodrigo won the First Prize as a bandoneon player at the Che Bandoneón International Competition awarded by the Argentine Tango Society at the Stowe Music Tango Festival in Vermont, USA. He has recently been selected for a scholarship by the Fondo Nacional de las Artes to continue developing his compositions.

Rodrigo is also an educator and serves as bandoneon professor at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires Tango Orchestr

Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival is coming up October 10!4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar7 pm Intro to Dance Class -...
10/02/2026

Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival is coming up October 10!

4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar
7 pm Intro to Dance Class - Urbana Dance Company
8 pm Milonga - Urbana Dance Company (live music 9:30-10:30 pm)

Visit www.cutangomusic.org for more information

The Avalos Solera Duo and Teresa Tam bring a fresh look at classic tangos and zamba by merging traditional folk and tango elements with baroque style. Their concert features compositions and arrangements from the duo's latest album, Intersecciones.

DJ Khoi will join us for the first time in Champaign-Urbana!Check him out at Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, Octobe...
09/30/2026

DJ Khoi will join us for the first time in Champaign-Urbana!

Check him out at Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival, October 10.

4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar
7 pm Intro to Dance Class - Urbana Dance Company
8 pm Milonga - Urbana Dance Company (live music 9:30-10:30 pm)

Visit www.cutangomusic.org for more information

Khoi V. Dang-Vu
DJ

With over two decades on the dance floor and 15+ years as a tango DJ, Khoi approaches the milonga as a thoughtfully curated experience. Drawing on classical sensibilities and a lifelong passion for music of all kinds—from Vietnamese pop and rock to bossa nova and jazz—his sets pair a signature pep and vigor with a carefully constructed narrative arc. While his personal taste is eclectic and boundless, his milonga sets remain strictly traditional and focused on the dancers. Co-organizer of cincOH Chicago Tango Marathon and La Maravilla milonga, Khoi is a mainstay in the local scene who regularly DJs across the Midwest and at major national events.

Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival is coming up October 10!4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar7 pm Intro to Dance Class -...
09/29/2026

Tango at CU Folk and Roots Festival is coming up October 10!

4:15 pm Concert - Gallery Art Bar
7 pm Intro to Dance Class - Urbana Dance Company
8 pm Milonga - Urbana Dance Company (live music 9:30-10:30 pm)

Visit www.cutangomusic.org for more information

We welcome vocalist Teresa Tam to Champaign-Urbana and CU Tango Music for the first time! Teresa will perform with the Avalos Solera Duo in concert and with the Festival Orchestra at the Milonga @ CU Folk and Roots Festival.

Teresa Tam
Voice

A lifelong musician from Taiwan who began playing piano and violin as a child, Teresa fell in love with singing when she started performing regularly in the Taiwan National Concert Hall with the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus as a pr***en. She then continued her vocal and violin studies after moving to the United States. However, after obtaining her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Vocal Performance, Teresa was diagnosed with vocal fold injury, which was a significant setback to a career singer. Through this difficulty, she gained deeper physical awareness and insights while rehabbing her voice.

Teresa made her professional debut as a soprano soloist with the American Bach Soloists while still pursuing her undergraduate degree. She obtained her Master in Music, Vocal Performance, from Boston University, College of Fine Arts. She has continued her professional training beyond her Master’s, obtaining certification in Estill Voice Training.

Though classically trained, her musical interests run the gamut from jazz to tango to classical. She has performed as soprano coloist with Boston University Haydn Conference in Cambridge, CT and has also collaborated and performed with jazz and tango musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Skyline College Jazz Band, Soundscape Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Corazón Tango, Fuego Tango, Maxi Larrea Trio, Las Almas Tango, Duo Telar, and Charles Gorczynski Tango Ensemble, in addition to her latest collaboration with bandoneonist Obadiah Díaz Wrynla and violinist Basma Edrees.

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Urbana, IL

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