05/31/2026
The Hispanic Society’s Amigos of the Library recently celebrated the launch of the Hispanic Society Poetry Center with a special evening of poetry and performance.
Guests enjoyed a stirring rendition of “En un lugar de la Sangre,” a suite for piano and poetic recitation by Chilean poet, composer, pianist, and draftsman David Rosenmann-Taub (1927–2023). Inspired by “Don Quixote,” the work reflects Rosenmann-Taub’s lifelong movement across poetry, music, and the visual arts.
For this special occasion, Yaissa Jiménez, a Dominican poet and performer who won the Copa América / Copa Continental de Slam Poetry Abya Yala in Rio de Janeiro, joined Álex “Apolo” Ayala, a Puerto Rican bassist, composer, arranger, and bandleader known for his virtuosic command of jazz, Latin jazz, and Afro-Caribbean musical traditions. Together, they brought Rosenmann-Taub’s suite into a new vocal and musical landscape, carrying a work first recited by the poet at the piano into the sound-world of New York’s Hispanic and Caribbean diasporas.
The program included remarks by Guillaume Kientz, Director and CEO of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library; Trustee James Blanco; and Ezequiel Zaidenwerg, newly appointed Head of the Poetry Center.
Presented beneath Joaquín Sorolla’s “Vision of Spain,” the evening marked an important preview of the Poetry Center’s future work in literature, research, public programming, and artistic collaboration.
Supported by the Corda Foundation, the Hispanic Society Poetry Center will deepen the museum’s commitment to the poetry and literary cultures ofthe Hispanic world.
