Brooklyn, N.Y. - April 16, 2008: Just in time for the warm weather, St. Joseph's College Council for the Arts is pleased to announce that popular salsa band Orquesta Universal will play at St. Joseph's Latin Dance Night on Thursday, May 1st, from 6 to 8 PM. Before the concert, the College will offer a free dance lesson featuring several different Latin styles free of charge to our guests. The event will be held at the St. Joseph's College Mall (adjacent to 256 Clinton Avenue, and is free and open to the public.

Orquesta Universal is a twelve-piece salsa band that also plays mambo and cha-cha songs that thousands of people have danced and listened to across the nation. Formed in 2004, this band has played at the Lincoln Center Outdoors Concert Series, at Lake Moor in Central Park, Saint Joseph’s College, Jazzfest 2006 and at various salsa clubs in and around New York City. Featuring 2-time Grammy nominee David Oquendo, the sidemen of Orquesta Universal have performed with and recorded with such greats as Charlie and Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Marc Anthony, Arturo Sandoval, Dizzy Gillespie, and Celia Cruz, among others.

Founded by Sister Elizabeth A. Hill, CSJ, J.D., president, the St. Joseph’s College Council for the Arts is a coalition of students, faculty members and staff who serve as a focal point for St. Joseph’s College’s educational and community outreach programming in the arts. By expanding and integrating campus arts activities, the Council seeks to enhance the public image of the College as a cultural center in Brooklyn and aims to make arts and cultural events more accessible to its students and area neighbors. For more information about this exhibit or other upcoming cultural events at the College's Brooklyn campus, please call 718.399.6755 or 718.636.6876.

About St. Joseph's College

St. Joseph’s College has been dedicated to providing a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. Independent and coeducational, the College provides a strong academic and value-oriented education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aiming to prepare each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual and spiritual values, social responsibility, and service. With campuses located in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn and in Patchogue, Suffolk, Long Island, the College offers degrees in over 22 majors, special course offerings and certificates, affiliated and pre-professional programs through its School of Arts and Sciences and its School of Professional and Graduate Studies.