RACHMANINOFF EN RITMO © 2026

Rachmaninoff isn’t a genre. His music is a bridge - and we are still walking across it! 

• Rachmaninoff was doing crossover before crossover had a name. The real kind — where borders dissolve, and the music becomes a passport.
• He crossed over between centuries: 19th‑century soul, 20th‑century velocity, 21st‑century emotional bandwidth.
• He crossed over between worlds: Russia → America → and everywhere where pianos exist.
• He crossed over between disciplines: composer with the architecture of an engineer, pianist with the stamina of an athlete, melodist with the instincts of a film director.

Listening to the “Rachmaninoff en Ritmo”, imagine a staged musical narrative in which two grand pianos sit opposite each other, like fencers. One, internationally renowned pianist Svetlana Smolina, is steeped in the brooding, expansive world of late‑Romantic Russian virtuosity; the other, the Latin Grammy Award-winning pianist, composer, and arranger, Milton Salcedo, radiates the rhythmic fire and improvisational swagger of Latin jazz. The tension between two pianists is delicious: Rubato vs. clave, romantic melancholy vs. tropical exuberance, Fortissimo del Fuego!

When Milton Salcedo plays a montuno or tumbao, he’s thinking in clave. When Svetlana Smolina plays Rachmaninoff, she’s thinking in rubato and long melodic arcs. So the duel becomes:
• Clave vs. rubato
• Rhythmic precision vs. expressive elasticity

The project is a high‑art collision—an exploration of how two musical languages can clash, flirt, provoke, and ultimately transform each other.

The composition features the All -Stars musicians lineup, including:

Featuring Piano: Dr. Svetlana Smolina is a recipient of the “New Names” scholarship program and holds a DMA from the University of Michigan, as well as an MM, BM, and Artist Diplomas from Indiana University South Bend, Oberlin Conservatory, Brussels Royal Conservatory, and Balakirev Music College.
Smolina has performed with orchestras such as the Mariinsky Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New Florida Philharmonic, the Shreveport Symphony, and the New York Chamber Orchestra. She has performed at venues including Carnegy Hall, the Salzburg Festival, the Hollywood Bowl, Ravinia Rising Stars, White Nights, Maggio Musicale, Mikkeli, Ruhr, Easter, Rotterdam, Phillips Gergiev, International Gilmore, Settimane Musicali di Stresa, and many others.

Featuring Piano/Keyboards: A Grammy Award Winner, pianist, composer, and arranger, Milton Salcedo, is Colombian-American. 
From a very young age, Milton was influenced by a Latin musical environment. Milton worked, arranged, and composed for Néstor Torres, Juan Gabriel, Diego Torres, Olga Tañon, Antonio Arnedo, Elvis Crespo, Carlos Santana, David Visbal, Ismael Miranda, Amaury Gutiérrez, Andrés Cabas, Alejandro Fernández, Plácido Domingo, Rocío Durcal, Carlos Oliva, Luis Enrique, Natalia Jiménez, and John Secada, to name just a few of them.
The support of undisputed international music stars such as Ed Calle, Dan Warner, Justo Almario, Ramón Benítez, and Néstor Torres, among others, is no less important, underscoring the great professionalism behind this production.

Drums and Percussion: Alex Alexander is a drummer/percussionist residing in New York City. He has performed and recorded with many artists worldwide. Among them: Dido, Eminem, Chaka Kahn, Ritchie Blackmore, David Bowie, Willie Nile, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Cliff, Joy Askew, Rickie Lee Jones, Bernie Worrell (P-Funk), Brian Hardgroove (Public Enemy). He performed at Lilith Fair with Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Sinead O'Connor, Winona Judd, Chrissie Hynde, Ashwin Sood, Everett Bradley, the Jazz Legend Ornette Coleman, and many more.

Bass and Double Bass: Mario Rodriguez is a renowned bassist known for his work in Latin and jazz, notably performing with Al Di Meola and saxophone legend Gato Barbieri. Beyond Barbieri, Rodriguez has worked with Al Di Meola, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Juan Luis Guerra, and has extensive recording credits, including work for Sesame Street.

Trumpet: Terry Heimat is the Global Music Award Winner. He is a conductor, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. Terry is the director of the Philharmonic Orchestra and a professor of music. 

This project is not “fusion.” It’s a duel, a dramatic dialogue in which each piano defends its identity while performing the music of Sergey Rachmaninoff and exchanging ideas with the other.

Trivia: The legendary snare drum features in the recording

A drummer and percussionist, Alex Alexander tracked drums for Rachmaninoff en Ritmo produced by Alex Sino and Terry Heimat at Harlem Parlour Studios - the great Sammy Merendino’s studio. Sammy has a fully stocked studio, and I even got to play and track the piece on his Black Beauty, which he bought from Myron Grombacher. Myron played this drum when he was Pat Benatar’s and Bob Dylan’s drummer. Snare featured Sammy, who got some great sounds really fast in engineering. The second take was the keeper. Alex finished the tracking with percussion at his studio.