Junior Ava Tronson said the optional Spanish field trip to the Ordway for a concert by Cuban musician Nachito Herrera was special.

“It was really different than any concert I’ve ever been to and I liked all the dancers that were there,” Tronson said.

According to the trip coordinator, Spanish teacher Hanna Anderson, the field trip was to see Herrera play with an orchestra, as he is known around the world.

“This field trip was a visit to the Ordway to see a Cuban pianist Nachito Herrera who presented with the Havana Jazz Social Club so it was like a whole orchestra playing with this pianist,” Anderson said. “I didn’t know much about him but he’s a world renowned pianist from Cuba who moved to the U.S. a few years ago so now he performs here in the U.S. and in Minnesota in particular.”

Tronson said she was excited by the opportunity to hear a different kind of music.

“It seemed like interesting music that I usually don’t listen to,” Tronson said.

According to Anderson, the show was unique because it blended African and Cuban music.

“The name of the show was ‘Afro-Latin Renaissance’ and the idea is to show students to be able to expose them to music that they don’t hear in their everyday lives and in this particular case was Cuban music with African influence,” Anderson said.

Sophomore Matthew Tucker said he liked seeing new cultures through music.

“I thought it was really interesting that we got to experience first hand how people are introducing their culture into our society in new forms and different ways,” Tucker said.

Since many of the students play instruments, Anderson said she hoped the concert showed them a new type of music.

“(I hoped they got) an appreciation for different type of music, there are a lot of students who play musical instruments and they think to see an orchestra play with such mastery of the instruments with so much energy,” Anderson said.

According to Tucker, going to the show allowed him to see interesting cultures that he hadn’t seen before.

“It got me into experiencing many different cultures that I haven’t been able to experience before,” Tucker said. “The experience of doing that was very important to me.”

Anderson said she thought the students who went really liked how distinct the music was.

I think they really enjoyed the energy and the different rhythm, the different beat,” Anderson said. “Again an appreciation not only for the music but for different rhythms and again for the quality of a very good show that kind of could transport us to a different country.”