Preserving the Spirit of Tango: Leonardo Suarez Paz and the Piazzolla100 Festival Bringing Buenos Aires to New York

By Kaju Roberto

New York City once again became a center for tango culture as the Piazzolla100 Festival returned, celebrating the music, dance, and legacy of legendary Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla. At the heart of the festival was Leonardo Suarez Paz, an internationally recognized violinist, composer, educator, and fourth-generation tango artist whose lifelong connection to the music shaped his mission of preserving and advancing the genre.

As co-founder and organizer, Suarez Paz created an event that extended beyond honoring Piazzolla’s music. The festival served as a cultural bridge between Buenos Aires and New York through concerts, educational workshops, film screenings, dance programs, and traditional milongas.

Held June 18–21, the festival opened with two performances at the K&J Theater in Union Square. Educational workshops followed at Times Square Studios, offering instruction for string players, bandoneon performers, pianists, guitarists, singers, and ensemble musicians.

Rediscovering the Guitar’s Role in Tango

One of the festival’s highlights was its guitar program, led by renowned Argentine guitarist Alejo de los Reyes. Suarez Paz emphasized that while many people viewed the bandoneon as tango’s defining instrument, the genre’s origins were rooted in the guitar.

He traced those roots to Gabino Ezeiza, the 19th-century payador, poet, and improvisational musician widely credited with creating the milonga, one of tango’s foundational musical forms. Performing with guitar while improvising lyrics and melodies, Ezeiza helped establish traditions that evolved into modern tango.

The connection was also personal. Suarez Paz is directly related to Ezeiza and considers the musician’s legacy part of his family heritage. Ezeiza’s original guitar is now displayed at the National Academy of Tango in Buenos Aires, serving as a symbol of tango’s beginnings. The guitar remained central throughout tango’s evolution. Even Carlos Gardel, history’s most celebrated tango singer, performed and recorded with guitar ensembles. Gardel’s career intersected with Piazzolla’s in a remarkable twist of fate.

The Twist of Fate That Changed Tango Forever

During the 1930s, Gardel was working in New York, where he made films and built an international following. There he met a young Piazzolla, then an Argentine immigrant growing up in the city. Although Piazzolla spoke limited Spanish, Gardel recognized his talent and invited him to join an upcoming concert tour.

Piazzolla’s father refused, insisting his son stay in school. That decision proved historic. Soon afterward, Gardel and his musicians died in a plane crash in Colombia. Had Piazzolla joined the tour, he might have been among the victims.

Instead, Piazzolla went on to revolutionize tango through nuevo tango, blending traditional forms with jazz and classical influences. His innovative style transformed the genre and expanded its global reach. Suarez Paz believes New York played an important role in shaping Piazzolla’s artistic vision, making the city an especially meaningful place to celebrate his legacy.

The festival grew out of Suarez Paz’s own experiences as a contractor for Broadway productions. Because few American musicians had the specialized training needed to perform authentic tango, he often brought artists from Argentina. Recognizing the need to develop local talent, he set out to build educational opportunities that would cultivate a new generation of tango musicians in the United States.

His connection to Piazzolla began in childhood. Suarez Paz’s father served as Piazzolla’s violinist and the youngster frequently attended rehearsals and performances, observing the composer at work. Those experiences profoundly shaped his musical career.

Piazzolla became a lasting artistic influence. Suarez Paz recalled that the composer always encouraged innovation, viewing tango as a living, evolving art form rather than a fixed tradition. That philosophy inspired the creation of the festival during the celebrations marking Piazzolla’s centennial.

Tango: More Than a Dance

Beyond celebrating Piazzolla’s achievements, the festival aimed to deepen public understanding of tango itself. Outside Argentina, tango is often associated primarily with dance. Suarez Paz argued that it represented something much broader — a complete cultural tradition.

In Buenos Aires, tango lives in neighborhood cafés, literature, poetry, conversations about politics and society, and everyday community life. It reflects the hopes, struggles, and emotions of generations of Argentines. Understanding tango, Suarez Paz said, meant understanding an entire cultural ecosystem.

The festival reflected that philosophy through performances, workshops, discussions, film presentations, and traditional milongas, giving both newcomers and longtime enthusiasts a deeper appreciation of the art form.

Education remained one of the festival’s central missions. Its tango orchestra — featuring bandoneons, strings, piano, bass, and guitar — gave musicians the opportunity to perform both classic and contemporary repertoire within a traditional orchestral setting. Introduced in earlier editions of the festival, the orchestra had become one of its most popular features.

For guitarists, the festival also offered a unique experience. Workshops focused on the stylistic foundations of tango performance, teaching the rhythms, phrasing, vibrato, and tonal colors that define the genre. Participants gained insight into techniques passed down through generations of Argentine musicians.

Keeping Tango Alive

Ultimately, the Piazzolla100 Festival celebrated both tradition and innovation. Through music, education, and cultural exchange, Suarez Paz continued the work of preserving tango’s heritage while encouraging its future evolution. His efforts ensured audiences in New York and beyond could experience a musical tradition that remains as vibrant and relevant today as ever.

By connecting tango’s historical roots with contemporary artistic expression, the festival honored Astor Piazzolla’s enduring legacy while reaffirming tango’s place as one of the world’s most dynamic cultural traditions.

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Kaju Roberto is an accomplished musician, singer-songwriter, journalist, award-winning producer, and recording artist Rad Jet.