CNN Speaks About the Bonye Group and Says that It Keeps the Traditional Music Alive in the Dominican Republic

CNN Speaks About the Bonye Group and Says that It Keeps the Traditional Music Alive in the Dominican Republic
New York, November 30 2015

The prestigious international news network CNN, through its correspondent in the country, informed that the Bonye Group keeps the traditional music alive in the Dominican Republic.

CNN said that there is no shortage of things to see in the Colonial Zone, the old section of the capital of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. With its cobblestone streets, age-old monuments, churches, museums, the Colonial Zone is the oldest permanent European settlement in the New World. The entire area is a stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site. On Sunday evenings, however, the starring attraction is definitely the Bonye Group. In front of the ruins of the San Francisco Monastery, the local band offers a free concert under the stars to end the weekend, or to kick off the work week, depending on your perspective.

The band plays between 6 and 10 pm, but crowds start gathering closer to 5:00 pm, the official starting time. Singers Félix Báez, Néstor Sánchez, Chino Méndez, Franklyn Soto and Roberto Bobadilla lead the Group (with special guests on occasion) playing traditional Dominican merengue, salsa and Cuban son. The highlight of the evening comes at 8 pm with a musical tribute to the national Dominican heroes, through the song “Quisqueya”, with the public standing and a huge Dominican flag waving from center stage.

Group fans are advised to arrive two hours before the music starts, if they want to find a place to sit. Otherwise, they might as well just plan to dance all night. This information was extracted from a CNN publication in English by Misael Rincon, who is a writer, photographer and videographer based in Santo Domingo. In one of these great evenings when we visited the Bonye Group, several personalities of the Dominican community were at the event. Among them: Mariasela Álvarez, who is a host and producer in the Dominican TV and also dances in the Colonial Zone with the Bonye the Group. Álvarez represented the Dominican Republic at the Miss World 1982 competition, in which she took the crown.

Also, Cristina Wynns and Francisca Salcedo, communicators and fans of the Bonye Group, were also there among other great figures from all walks of the Dominican life. www.zabalaaldia.com