Cuban-born musician who wrote to Obama says White House confirmed his participation in upcoming event

Legendary Cuban musician Paquito D'Rivera said Wednesday night that the White House confirmed his participation in an upcoming performance, a few hours after several media outlets published a letter from the artist addressed to President Barack Obama claiming that he had been banned from the event.

Grammy-Award winner Paquito D’Rivera was invited by the Thelonious Monk Institute to play in the International Jazz Day concert on April 30 hosted by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, but a few days ago he received a phone call from institute informing him that his participation “did not pass the vetting process.”

In the letter he wrote to President Obama, dated April 11, 2016, D’Rivera — who has previously played at the White House — said he feared that his exclusion was the result of his long-standing stance against the dictatorship that oppresses his native Cuba.

“I fear that this ‘not passing the vetting process’ may have to do with my decades-long vocal position against the dictatorship that oppresses Cuba, my country of birth, and my support of human rights and democratic values that you defended so well a few weeks ago in Havana,” he wrote.

According to the letter, the concert at the White House, organized by UNESCO, will also feature Chick Corea, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Heath, Dave Holland, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, Christian McBride, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding, Sting, and Cuban musician Chucho Valdés.

“I was delighted and put the rehearsal schedule and dates on my calendar,” D’Rivera wrote.

Read the full text of the letter here.

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This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Cuban-born musician who wrote to Obama says White House confirmed his participation in upcoming event."