*NOTE: All tickets are subject to an additional $4 per ticket facility fee.
more info TBA
100 Blossoms for
Violeta Parra– a musical celebration of her 100th
birthday.
100 years
after Violeta’s birth on October 4th, 1917, we celebrate her extensive musical
compositions and ethnomusicological breakthroughs. Violeta’s Gracias a la vida is a fixture in the Latin American imagination, a song heard around the
world. This year the world has joined our festivities with 100 years of Violeta
echoed in Spain, Finland, Mexico, France and Greece, among many other places.
Hence, the Bay Area welcomes 100 Blossoms for Violeta Parra, a festival of
music and dance by local bands and Inti-Illimanias
our special guest direct from Chile.
Organized at
the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, this event offers a multi-generational
interpretation of Violeta’s music. Doors open at 7:00 and we encourage you to
come early because there will be a welcoming show (un esquinazo a la chilena) in the lobby beginning at 7:20 PM with
young musicians – Jesse & Danieand
Foreign
Planetpresenting the voices of
Morgan & Camila Valdivieso - all playing the music of Violeta including two
cuecas which will be danced by the East Bay’s own Araucaria.
On the main
stage, the show will begin at 8:00 PM with Madelina y Los Carpinterosand theMarci Manríquez Bay Band. The
show will end with the multi-instrumentalist and world renownedInti-Illimani. Each band will bring Violeta Parra’s compositions to life
with their unique styles traveling the gamut from traditional Chilean folklore
to jazz and rock.
--
Inti-Illimani
Celebrates 50
years of Music, Activism & Education
Inti-Illimani has
transcended our idea of the musical ensemble and has become a cultural
location, a liturgy expressing the essence of the Latin-American ethno-musical
experience. Founded by Jorge Coulon in 1967, for 50 years Inti-Illimani has
performed world-wide to hundreds of thousands of fans, collaborated with folk
legends, earned awards and honors for their activism and masterful
musicianship, and produced one of the richest discographies in Latin-American
recording history. Indeed, Inti-Illimani’s premier album, Nueva Canción, or “new song,” spoke to their role in dreaming a new
vision for Chile during the volatile socio-political landscape of South America
during the 1960’s and 70’s. They have endured political exile, embodied
creative leadership through decades of transition and evolution, and enjoyed an
invaluable, truly majestic career.
Inti-Illimani’s poetry- a sound that captures memories of persecution,
love, loss, revolution, social justice, and freedom- has enchanted the ear of
legendary artists with whom they have shared stages, including Peter Gabriel,
Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Mercedes Sosa, Holly Near, Patricio Manns,
Youssou’n’Dour, John Williams, Joan Baez and Paco Peña.
Renowned for their humanity and arts-activism, they have appeared on
Amnesty International stages, lectured extensively on Latin-American folk and
indigenous music, culture and social change; and most recently, founded an
arts-centric charter school, Sol Del Illimani, which the group saved from
closing in one of Santiago’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.
Inti-Illimani has toured in dozens of countries at prestigious concert
halls, festivals, and benefit concerts. They have recorded 36 studio albums,
and their newest release is dedicated to the legendary Violeta Parra.
Inti-Illimani means “sun of the mountain,” taken from the indigenous
Aymara dialect. We celebrate the incredible light Inti-Illimani has deposited
into the world’s treasury of exquisite, enduring, and activated musical
artistry.
The Marci
Manríquez Bay Band is an ensemble of Bay Area professional musicians who
have joined to celebrate Violeta Parra’s music - On the lead guitar, the
dexterous fingers of Hugo Wainzinger, rocking rhythm guitar by Ricardo
Valdivieso, multi-layered sudaca
percussion by Axel Herrera and Mariela Mena, walking bass by Joel Gimbel and Héctor
Zapana covering the spectrum of Andean Instruments, lyrics in the melodious and
powerful voice of Marci Manríquez.
Prior
permutations of the band have performed concerts and participated in the Encuentro del Canto Popular
in San Francisco, festivals in the Midwest, Florida, Chile and France,
including the stages at prestigious colleges such as the University of Iowa, UC
Berkeley, Menlo College, and San Francisco State University among others.
Cultural centers such as the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco and La
Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, are some of the venues that have hosted our
eclectic mix of Latin American contemporary music.During the past five years, the core duo
Marci and Ricardo have participated and produced several festivals throughout
the Bay Area.
Marci continues her late father
Rafael Manríquez’ tradition of promoting Latin American culture through song
and poetry. She is a songwriter, classically trained singer and producer who
has recorded with Espacio Temporal, Duamuxa, and Rafael Manríquez. Marci will
be presenting her first solo CD this fall.
Madelina
y Los Carpinteros is a multicultural Latin American ensemble following the
tradition of the Nueva Canción and Nueva Trova – movements that came out of The
Americas’ liberation struggles to freshly embody the folk roots with an
enriched lyricism – The group sings original compositions as well as unique
interpretations of music from South American and the Andes, from Cuba and
Puerto Rico to Mexico and the US. The group features the vocal interpretations
of Madelina Zayas (Puerto Rico) and Brandon Vance (US), and the richly layered
and deeply rooted acoustic performance by Fernando Feña Torres (Chile), Denis
Schmidt (France), and Craig Thomas (US).
In the
Lobby:
Jesse
& Danie – a duet with the talented and singer and actress
Danie Valdivieso and Jesse Vaughn.
Foreign Planet
Foreign
Planet is a recently formed band of young musicians exploring songwriting in
many musical styles from rock to heavy metal and Latin American folk, with Joel
Gimbel on bass, Chris Levy on percussion, Lorenzo Plazola on guitar, and Morgan
Valdivieso on voice. Foreign Planet will be joined by Camila Valdivieso on
vocals.
Araucaria
Araucaria has been delighting audiences in the Bay Area for
over 20 years with their beautiful renditions of traditional Chilean dances.
They will be dancing during the lobby show to Foreign Planet’s cuecas and in
the auditorium during the Marci Manríquez Bay Band performance.
Violeta Parra Bio
Violeta
Parra, Violeta del Carmen Parra
Sandoval (born October 4, 1917,
San Carlos, Chile—died February 5, 1967, Santiago) was a Chilean composer, folk
singer, and social activist, known as one of the founders of the Nueva Canción (“New Song”) movement. A multi-platform
creator, she painted, wrote poetry, sculpted, and wove arpilleras (tapestries).
Violeta was
born to a large, poor family in the small town of San Carlos in the southern
province of Ñuble. She started writing songs at an early age, initially
performing in the streets, bars, small ballrooms, and circuses. In 1952,
encouraged by her brother, poet Nicanor Parra, she traveled throughout Chile to
document the breadth of Chilean folk music. Her exposure to that music served
as her inspiration for Nueva Canción, and her work began to synthesize Chilean
folk traditions and her growing concern for social conditions.
In 1954, having been
awarded what was referred to as the "Chilean Oscar" at the Caupolicán
Theatre for her music, Parra was invited to Poland to play at a youth festival.
She popularized her music as she travelled throughout the Soviet Union and
Europe, and she finally settled in Paris for two years, where she recorded
several albums. Parra’s stay was cut short by the sudden death of her youngest
daughter, and she returned to Chile in 1956. In 1957, she met with folksinger Víctor Jara and inspired the young artist to join the Nueva
Cancion movement. Violeta maintained a “Peña
– a Chilean social event where various singers, poets, dancers and bands
perform in front of a seated audience” at a tent located in the La Reina
commune of Santiago upon her return from Europe until her death in 1967.