UNC will celebrate the diversity of Latin American music with concerts, dancing, discussions and workshops at the 2008 Festival on the Hill this week.

Sounds of salsa, modern classical music and more will fill Hill Hall and Person Hall, as well as The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, where the dance floor will be open.

Scholars, musicians and local educators will discuss Latin American music's contributions to the music of the United States and its emerging impact on North Carolina's cultural and social landscape.

The festival will include a premiere piece by Cuban composer Tania Leon and a concert by Cuban jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who has been called "one of the greatest musicians in jazz" by The New York Times.

The festival theme, "Transcending Borders: Latin American and Latina/o Music in North Carolina," reflects the university's efforts to reach out to diverse segments of the community, said organizer David Garcia, UNC assistant professor of ethnomusicology and an expert on Latin American and Latina/Latino popular music.

"The festival's emphasis is an extension at a much larger scale of what I've done in my classroom teaching," he said. "Latinas and Latinos are the fastest growing segment of North Carolina's population."

Workshops on the music of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and the Caribbean will be led by local musicians who specialize in those styles. Musical performances will range from salsa and Latin jazz to modern classical and Mexican Baroque music.

The festival will reach its peak Saturday night with the solo concert by Rubalcaba in Memorial Hall.

Rubalcaba fuses American styles with traditional Cuban rhythms. He has made more than 20 albums and won a Latin Grammy for his 2002 album "Supernova."

As a teenager in Havana, Cuba, Rubalcaba spent years honing his versatile style in the city's many jazz clubs. In 1985, he formed his own band, Grupo Proyecto, and his unique blend of Afro-Cuban jazz caught the ear of legendary jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.

His first album, 1991's "The Blessing," was hailed as virtuosic for its dense improvisational style and sound layering, and established Rubalcaba as a pre-eminent name in American jazz.

"Gonzalo Rubalcaba is more talented than words can express," said Emil Kang, executive director for the arts at UNC. "He's an award-winning musician with the ability to fuse cultures and traditions and make it sound beautiful."

The Times wrote of Rubalcaba last month: "He has an almost eerie control over his sound, as if he were playing the strings directly instead of using the keys as intermediaries."

Rubalcaba has worked with some of jazz's biggest names, including fellow pianist Chick Corea, tenor saxophonist Tony Martinez, guitarist Pat Martino and noted Afro-Cuban jazz drummer Ignacio Berroa.

Tickets cost $24 to $50 and are available at 843-3333, online at www.carolinaperformingarts.org and at the Memorial Hall Box Office, open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.

In addition to the Rubalcaba concert, festival highlights include:

• Thursday, March 27, 3 p.m., Person Recital Hall: "Latino Music and Local Radio in the Triangle," a panel discussion featuring speakers from local Latina/Latino radio stations, moderated by Sharon Mujica, outreach director of UNC's Institute for the Study of the Americas. Free.
• Thursday, March 27, 6:30 p.m. forum, 7:30 p.m. concert, Memorial Hall: A forum on "Latin American Composers in the United States" will precede a concert, "Modern Music of Latin America." The concert will include the premiere of "Ancient," by Cuban composer Tania Leon, featuring UNC faculty members Terry Rhodes, Brooks de Wetter-Smith, Donald Oehler and Matt Savage, plus mezzo soprano Ellen Williams. Also performing will be the Carolina Wind Quintet; UNC music professor and pianist Mayron Tsong and cellist Nigel Boehm; the UNC Chamber Singers; the UNC Percussion Ensemble; and violinists Jennifer Curtis and UNC music professor Richard Luby, featured in a chamber concerto by Paul Desenne for violin, strings and harpsichord. Tickets are $15, $10 for UNC students, faculty and staff. Call 843-3333.
• Friday,March 28, 7 p.m. forum, 8 p.m. concert, Hill Hall: A forum on "Transcontinental Exchanges in Music in the 17th and 18th Centuries: Europe and the Spanish New World" will precede a concert by La Fontegara, Mexico's foremost early music ensemble. Tickets, $15, $10 for UNC students, faculty and staff. Call 962-1039.
• Friday, March 28, 4:30 p.m., Person Recital Hall: Latin America strings concert featuring Charanga Carolina, directed by UNC music assistant professor David Garcia; cellist and UNC music professor Brent Wissick; cellist Nigel Boehm; soprano and UNC music lecturer Jeanne Fischer; UNC music professor Richard Luby's student quartet studio; and the Durham Academy Chamber Ensemble. Free.
• Sunday, March 30, 5:30 p.m., The ArtsCenter, 300 W. Main St., Carrboro: Musica Latina in Carolina, featuring performances by Holy Samba, In the Pocket, Durham Academy Salsa Club, Orquesta GarDel, Tangos para Recordar and Rey Norteno. The dance floor will be open. Free

The music department in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences sponsors the biennial festival, with a different focus each time. The N.C. Humanities Council is the major sponsor this year.

For details and a list of all festival events, visit music.unc.edu/festivalonthehill2008/.