Oaxacan singer set for SF Symphony debut at Día de los Muertos concert
October 30, 2015 Maria Antonieta Mejía
Lila Downs, renowned Grammy-winning Mexican singer, will make her San Francisco Symphony debut during the Día de los Muertos Community Concert on Nov. 7. Photo courtesy of Elena Pardo
During Día de los Muertos celebrations throughout Mexico, people flock to cemeteries to gift their dead relatives with things that they once enjoyed in life; some offerings include food and mariachis or the favorite music of the deceased.
American-Mexican singer Lila Downs decided to use her music as an offering for this year’s Día de los Muertos celebration at the San Francisco Symphony.
“[I want] to educate people about our traditions…Many people don’t know about us,” said the artist, who split time growing up in Oaxaca and Minnesota.
In a telephone interview from Oaxaca, Downs told of how the scent of copal (the primary incense used on altars for the dead) begins to fill the streets throughout the month of October. She uses that same fragrant resin along with Mexican marigold flowers to decorate the altar in honor of her dead relatives.
Her altar this year is in honor of her grandmother and her father, Allen Downs, who was a professor at the University of Minnesota. It’s also dedicated to Gandhi, the Mazatec curandera Maria Sabina and the three Ayotzinapa students whose deaths have been confirmed.
As for the other 43 missing students, Downs said that they, for the moment, would not be part of her altar for the dead.
“I still have hope that they will be found alive,” she said.
Lila Downs. Photo courtesy of Chino Lemus
Not forgetting Mexico’s disappeared
The artist, who earned both a Grammy and a Latin Grammy for her 2012 album “Pecados y Milagros,” believes that Día de los Muertos should serve to remember the thousands who have disappeared or have been killed due to the violence in Mexico.
“We cannot stop raising awareness for the disappeared in Mexico. The date is important. We must talk about it, even if it is uncomfortable,” said Downs, who revealed that during her San Francisco Symphony debut on Nov. 7 she’ll sing Mexican classics such as “La Llorona,” along with other songs from her new production “Balas y Chocolate.”
Downs said that during this very spiritual season, it’s important to highlight the positive things about our culture, but it’s also “inevitable to think about those who are oppressing us.”
The performer said she was very happy returning to San Francisco, and stressed the harmony and social concerns that characterize the city. “It’s a place where I connect with the audience as if I were at home,” she said.
Musical Offering
Usually the Día de los Muertos Community Concert is one show, but on Saturday, Nov. 7 Downs will perform twice.
She explained that she has already performed with the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s Philharmonic Orchestra (OFUNAM) in Mexico, but this will be her first time on stage with the San Francisco Symphony.
She said she was very excited by the fact that at the concert—in addition to the music—there will be an art exhibition and workshop activities for children.
An elder woman selling flowers at the Day of the Dead market in Oaxaca.
A woman selling flowers for the dead for the altar at the Day of the Dead market in Oaxaca.
A little boy selling corn tortillas for the traditional food of Day of the Dead in Oaxaca.
Chocolate skulls for the Day of the Dead altar at the market of Oaxaca.
