Golondrina: A Musical Journey through California (Andanzas por California / Passages through California)

Doors open at 7:30pm / Performance starts at 8pm

$16 Advance / $20 Door (Please note: there is a $2 credit card fee at the door per ticket)

Liliana Herrera is best known as the front-woman of the Bay Area based cumbia-dub band Candelaria. In Golondrina, she fuses soulful boleros, rancheras, cumbias, blues and more, honoring California’s rich history and abounding contributions of its inhabitants, languages, and folkloric traditions. Join her, for one night only at La Peña Cultural Center, in a spirited journey of traditional and original song, embodying the majestic wanderings of La Golondrina (the migrating swallow) on her migratory melodic route.

Artistic Director: Liliana Herrera

NEA Series Director: Maria De la Rosa

“Golondrina” is the third installment of La Peña Cultural Center’s four-part series examining the role of women in traditional folk music and dance from Latin America and the Caribbean. With the support of National Endowment for the Art’s (NEA) Artworks, this series also honors the historic presence of women’s leadership in the promotion of cultural traditions.

Liliana Herrera’s Golondrina is a musical confluence of song and poetic storytelling honoring California’s rich history and abounding contributions of its inhabitants, languages, and folkloric traditions. This spirited journey of traditional and original song unleashes the most marginalized yet inspiring voices of resistance and resilience, while embodying the majestic wanderings of La Golondrina (the migrating swallow) on her migratory melodic route. Showcasing  vast vocal ranges and ethereal soundscapes, this musical performance fuses soulful boleros, rancheras, cumbias, blues and more.

Celebrating her roots from Baja to Alta California as well as the majestic nature of migration, epitomized by las Golondrinas (California’s famous migrating Swallows of Capistrano), chanteuse and songwriter Liliana Herrera takes us on a bilingual lyrical odyssey, echoing the struggles and resilience of society’s most marginalized, including women, native and migrant communities.

From coastal fog to blooming desert heat, these narratives dispel the myths of passive consent to colonialism: from the romanticized Spanish Missions, to the booming cities of the gold rush, cascading sierras and the fertile valleys of our golden state.

At this pivotal moment in time when our sociopolitical climate instigates intolerance, ignorance and fear, it is vital and fruitful to turn our cultural riffs topsy-turvy so instead of inducing tectonic divisions, we forge ahead, creatively embracing the common threads flowing through and uniting us.

Following the performance there is a Q&A with the artists.

ARTIST BIOS

Liliana Herrera is a singer/songwriter, recording artist and cultural worker living in the Bay Area. Over the last twenty years, she has connected her experiences working with a vast array of communities to musical and theatrical collaborations, such as El Teatro Campesino, Golden Gate Opera, Opera Cultura, Galería de la Raza, The De Young Museum, SOMArts, Mission Cultural Center, Brava for Women in the Arts, La Peña Cultural Center, among others. Hailing from a Southern California musical border family, she bridges her bicultural roots to the arts and social justice through music, as a language justice interpreter and linguist, and Voice Over artist, lending her voice to numerous projects for TV, radio and more. Liliana is currently lead singer of Oakland-based Cumbia dub band, Candelaria, and recently released her Chicana Soul debut EP, Late Night Taco Stand Music.

David R Molina (Musician, Sound Designer, Co-Arranger) is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, sound artist/designer, music producer, recording engineer, and instrument inventor. He has created music and sound for every discipline in the performing arts, film, radio, and multimedia installations, nationally and internationally, for the past 24 years. His work leans towards social justice. Awards include: LA Ovation sound design for Lydia, at Mark Taper Forum (2009), Creative Capital Grant (2009) and Wattis Fund (2011) with Secos Y Mojados, and InterMusic SF’s MGP (2016). Collaborators include Cause Collective, Hank Willis Thomas, Violeta Luna, Roberto G. Varea, NAKA Dance Theater, Naomi Rincon Gallardo, Tim Rubel Human Shakes, and Juliette A. Carrillo. Molina’s instruments, and multimedia collaborations were displayed at SFMOMA, The Broad (LA), Oakland Museum of California, Mcloughlin Gallery, and SOMArts. Bands he’s collaborated with: TAU (Berlin), Emanative (UK), El Paso (Peru), The Pyramids (USA). Molina’s bands are: Impuritan, Ghosts and Strings, and Transient. He is head of sound, and a teacher at Brava Theater Center. www.drmsound.com.

Ayla Dávila is a bassist, composer, music teacher, and multi-instrumentalist from Berkeley, California. She has a deep knowledge of diverse musical forms, with an emphasis on Latin music. Ayla studied at the Berklee College of Music and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Film Scoring and Bass Performance. In addition to her studies, Ayla held many leadership positions and directed the Women Musician’s Network Showcase for two years. Ayla is a member of Jesus Diaz y su QBA, LaTiDo, La Mixta Criolla, Carne Cruda, De Bahia a Bahia, The Cuban Cowboys, Los Mocosos, The Latin Dub Starz, Rico Pabón, and La Mission Band and has also played with locals Bobi Cespedes, John Santos, Louie Romero, Anthony Blea, John Calloway, Karl Perazzo, The V-Note Ensemble, Dr. Loco’s Rockin’ Jalapeño Band and many others. Ayla is a member of the San Francisco Chapter of The Recording Academy and has worked extensively with six-time Grammy nominated producer Greg Landau.

*La Peña Cultural Center is wheelchair accessible.