Celebrating the Dark-Skinned Divine Feminine
Sunday, March 29 at 4PM
Church of the Covenant, 67 Newbury St.
Boston, MA
For 2,000 years, the Virgin Mary has been a central representation of the Divine Feminine. While modern mainstream art tends to portray her through a Eurocentric lens, history and music tell a broader story. Across Europe, Africa, and the Americas, in fact, old artifacts and records reveal a rich tradition of a dark-skinned ‘Other Mary.’
La Donna Musicale and Rumbarroco invite you to a vibrant celebration that honors and reclaims her powerful presence. Our program weaves a rich tapestry of sounds—from Spanish works of Early Music and modern Latin American world premieres to the soulful traditional music of The Canary Islands, Cuba, Peru, and Venezuela. By blending a taste of the past with the driving, infectious rhythms of Afro-Latin traditions, we bring Mary’s hidden history to the forefront, showing that dark-skinned divinities still resonate strongly today.
Music from the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, Spain, and the Latin-American Valdensis and Trujillo Codex, along with traditional music from the Canary Islands, Venezuela, Mexico and Peru.
Performers:
Adriana Ruiz, soprano
Cassandra Extavour, soprano
Daniela Tosic, mezzo-soprano
Fausto Miro, tenor
Danilo Bonina, violin
Na’ama Lion, flute
Eduardo Betancourt, Venezuelan harp & percussion
Miguel Morales, percussion
Katherine Shao, keyboards
Laury Gutiérrez, viola da gamba &cuatro
Kirsten Lamb, bass
About the Ensembles:
La Donna Musicale is a non-profit organization dedicated to the research and performance of music by women composers. Rumbarroco is an ensemble known for its focus on Ibero-American early music and “Latin-Baroque Fusion,” blending European traditions with African and Amerindian influences. Both groups are directed by Laury Gutiérrez, whose research into marginalized musical histories is central to their shared repertoire.
Both groups are founded and directed by Laury Gutiérrez, a Venezuelan-American scholar and “first-rate” instrumentalist (Boston Globe). A prominent figure in the field of historical performance, Ms. Gutiérrez has served as a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and as a resident scholar at the Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center. Her extensive research into marginalized musical histories is central to the shared repertoire of both ensembles.
Tickets: $35 Reserved; $20 General entrance; $5 Low income
For more information call us at 617-461-6973 or write to ladonna@ladm.org
This concert is supported by Live Arts Boston, a joint initiative of the Barr Foundation and The Boston Foundation.