SAT MAR 10 2018 / 8PM
Lila Downs CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT UBC
“I don’t think we see music
as having to do with genre. Rather, we just learn from all the music that’s out there in the world—and that’s very exciting.” – Lila Downs ((The Georgia Straight, 2018)
Lila Downs PRESENTED BY THE CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Pre-show Talk 7:15pm, Royal Bank Cinema
With Maria Jose Athie-Martinez
Concert 8:00pm, Chan Shun Concert Hall Lila Downs Vocals Josh Deutsch Trumpet George Saenz Trombone, Accordion Sinuhe Padilla Jarana, Acoustic guitar Rafael Gomez Guitar Luis Guzman Bass Yayo Serka Drums Nikki Campbell Percussion Nahualli Folklore Dancers Set list to be announced from the stage. There will be one 20-minute intermission.
Please remember to turn off your phones, and note that photography and recording are not permitted. Thank you!
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Lila Downs Iconic Grammy and Latin Grammy Award winning singer Lila Downs is one of the world’s most singular and powerful voices, whose compelling stage presence and poignant storytelling transcend all language barriers. Raised in Minnesota and Oaxaca, this global superstar’s exquisite artistry bridges traditions from across the Americas, with influences ranging from the folk and ranchera music of Mexico and South America to North American folk, jazz, blues, and hip-hop. As a passionate human-rights activist, Lila’s lyrics often highlight issues relating to social justice, sharing stories that too often go untold. Lila’s current album, Salón Lágrimas y Deseo, is an anthem for female empowerment and earned her a fifth Latin Grammy. The initial single, “Peligrosa,” includes lyrics that invite all “dangerous” women to join her – women who are intelligent, independent, who know how to get things done, make decisions, fight, and love. Released in May 2017, the album features a blend of genres from blues to cumbia, danzón, banda, and Cuban son, with ballads that perfectly suit Lila’s unmistakable, contralto voice. Lila has graced the stages of many of the world’s most prestigious festivals and venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Hollywood Bowl, Royal Festival Hall in London, and Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional. She has been invited to sing at the White House, and has performed at the Academy Awards and Latin Grammy Awards. Her music has also been included in several feature films, including The Counselor, Tortilla Soup, Real Women Have Curves, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Carlos Saura’s Fados, Mariachi Gringo, and Hecho en Mexico.
“[Hate is] kind of like a wild horse. Hate — if you really hate someone or you hate people; you hate divisions; you hate racism — it can be a very easy place to go to. I think that’s what’s happening is that a lot of people in this country are going in that direction. . . . It can be more of a challenge and to me it’s more interesting to tame the beast, to put some reins on it and to manage it [and] carry the cause, and you make it music and you make it dance.” – Lila Downs (Salon, 2017)
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Nahualli Folklore Established in 2010, Nahualli Folklore is a non-profit Vancouver-based organization that celebrates the richness and diversity of Mexican culture through the creation, teaching, and performance of its traditional music and dance. The name Nahualli (Nah-Wall-e) originates from an Indigenous language of Mexico called Nahuatl (Nah-Wah-til). It signifies an animal spirit or a transforming power that protects and guides each person from the moment of birth.
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Exploring the role of the arts and artists in society. chancentre.com/connects
Pre-show Talk with Maria Jose Athie-Martinez 7:15pm: Royal Bank Cinema, Chan Centre Maria Jose Athie-Martinez is a scholar of Mestiza heritage from Mexico, currently completing her PhD in Curriculum Studies here at the University of British Columbia. Fluent in both Ayuujk and Mayan Yucatec languages, Maria is a passionate advocate for Indigenous rights and has participated in a variety of social movements in Mexico including “Yo soy 132,” a 2012 protest against allegedly biased political coverage in mainstream Mexican media, and “43 Desaparecidos” around the tragic 2014 disappearance and deaths of 43 students in Mexico. This pre-show talk addresses some of the social and economic injustices currently faced by Indigenous groups in Mexico and the associated movements to bring about positive change for these communities. These themes of social justice and Indigenous rights echo the political messages strong in the music and advocacy of Lila Downs.
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www.worldmusicfest.ca
Celebrating 20 Years The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts opened its doors in 1997, and this season we’re celebrating 20 years! Visit our anniversary archives at chancentre.com for memorable events, stories and never-before-seen photos from two decades of world class performance.
Artist’s Delight By Jennifer Van Evra Since the Kronos Quartet first formed in 1973, the group has been one of contemporary classical music’s most acclaimed ensembles. Along the way they have toured the globe and played hundreds of venues — and founding member and artistic director David Harrington says the Chan Centre is among the very best. “It’s in the very top echelon of acoustic spaces. There’s not even a question about it in my mind,” says the renowned violinist. “And when I think about what it feels like on stage, a few of the spaces that come to mind are the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, and the Chan Centre.” The centre is so beloved by artists that many return again and again, among them Mexican-American vocalist Lila Downs, banjo icon Béla Fleck, fado singer Mariza, Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, and tabla master Zakir Hussain. Harrington says that for artists, the centre is warmly inviting, from memorable pre-show dinners to post-performance receptions, and with its impeccable acoustics and intimate layout, the hall itself is extraordinary. The first time he performed here in 1998, he remembers thinking it was “one of the most amazingly beautiful acoustic concert halls Kronos has ever played.” “A hall is like an instrument — so you’re playing an instrument inside another instrument,” explains Harrington.“It feels like it’s inviting the sound, pulling the sound from your instrument when you’re playing, and you feel supported and encouraged by what you’re hearing.”
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Lila Downs agrees. The renowned vocalist loves Chan Centre audiences, but she especially appreciates the atmosphere the hall’s design and acoustics create. “It makes all the difference. It brings down your guard, and as a vocalist, you feel like you can really express all the dynamics of your instrument. You can use the softer side of your voice and the more intimate approach to the songs. And the audience is focused on the music,” says Downs. “The musicians really enjoy it because they can hear all the subtleties in their technique, and the emotion is quite different. There are very few halls that are perfect acoustically, but the Chan Centre is certainly one of them.” Venues of the same calibre as the Chan Centre are rare, says Harrington, but he strongly believes they are essential. “Honouring music is a good thing for human beings to do. It’s one of the most wonderful inventions that people have,” he says. “It certainly beats so many things that we see happening in the world — and it sets an example when people band together and make something great like the Chan Centre happen. It sets the bar higher.” As part of the 20th anniversary of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, we have commissioned 20 stories from writer Jennifer Van Evra – just a glimpse into all that has shaped who we are as an organization today. Read more at chancentre.com or pick up your printed copy of The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at 20 at our ticket office. 9
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC Joyce Hinton Co-Managing Director Cameron McGill Co-Managing Director Carl Armstrong Events & Customer Service Manager Wendy Atkinson Programming & Rentals Manager Lloyd Balser Head Audio Technician Laura Busby Rentals & Programming Assistant Kara Gibbs Marketing & Communications Manager David Humphrey Production Manager Flora Lew Financial Coordinator Glenda Makela Financial & Programming Clerk Trevor Mangion Ticket Operations Manager Chloe Martin-Cabanne Operations Clerk Veronica Maynard Administration & Finance Clerk Caitlin McKee (on leave) Artistic Presenting Manager Claire Mohun Marketing & Communications Coordinator George Pereira Production Clerk James Perrella Assistant Head Audio/Stage Technician Andrew Riter Assistant Technical Director & Head Lighting Technician Nadia Roberts Events & Front of House Coordinator Lyndsey Roberts Ticket Office Supervisor Jennifer Sorko Artistic Presenting Manager Members of Cupe 2950 Front of House, Stage, and Ticketing Staff Valentina Acevedo Montilla Programming Assistant, Undergraduate Student Janice Lew Artistic Presentations Assistant, Work Learn Student Taryn Plater Marketing & Communications Assistant, Work Learn Student Administration Office
T: 604.822.9197
E: chan.centre@ubc.ca
chancentre.com /chan.centre.ubc
Ticket Office
T: 604.822.2697
@ChanCentre
E: chan.tickets@ubc.ca
/ChanCentreUBC
Graphic Design by Copilot Design Media Relations by Murray Paterson Marketing Group The Chan Centre would like to thank our 2017/2018 series sponsors: The Chan Endowment Fund and the UBC Faculty of Arts
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Upcoming Events at the Chan Centre Full details at chancentre.com
Mar 15 at 2pm: UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble Presented by the UBC School of Music Mar 16 at 6:30pm: UBC Opera Ball Fundraiser Presented by the UBC School of Music Mar 16 - 18 at 7:30: Tanya Tagaq and Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory SOLD OUT Presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Mar 24 at 9am: Artists Emerge Presented by Artists Emerge Mar 31 at 8pm: UBC Choirs and UBC Symphony Orchestra Presented by the UBC School of Music
Apr 3 at 7:30pm: The Chan Turns 20 Presented by the UBC School of Music Apr 6 at 8pm: UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble & UBC Concert Winds Presented by the UBC School of Music
April 7 at 7:30pm: VanMan Male Choral Summit Concert Presented by Chor Leoni
Apr 13+14 at 8pm: The Music of Brahms and Sibelius Presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Apr 15 at 7pm: DaymĂŠ Arocena and Roberto Fonseca Presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Apr 21 at 7:30pm: War and Peace – The Tallis Scholars Presented by Early Music Vancouver CIRCA: OPUS
Apr 22 at 3pm: Inon Barnatan, piano Presented by the Vancouver Recital Society
Apr 23 at 8pm: Laurie Anderson: All the Things I Lost in the Flood SOLD OUT Presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Apr 24 at 8pm: Arpanatolia Presented by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey & Turkish Consulate General in Vancouver
Apr 28 at 8pm: Circa: Opus Presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
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Two of Cuba’s hottest new artists
SUN APR 15 2018 / 7PM
Daymé Arocena and Roberto Fonseca
SAT APR 28 2018 / 8PM
Circa: Opus
“This Shostakovich-meets-the-circus show is sexy, fierce and astonishing” - The Telegraph
CHAN CENTRE AT UBC
Tickets and info at chancentre.com