Oaxacan Singer Lila Downs Set for San Francisco Symphony Debut Concert Maria Antonieta Mejia - El Tecolote
go to original November 2, 2015

Possessed of one of the most extraordinary voices in world music, Lila Downs is as much of a performance artist as a singer. Her repertoire which can range from traditional to original generally references her native Mexican heritage. In this interview, she discusses her childhood in Mexico, growing up the daughter of a mixed marriage, and her eventual turn to topical songs inspired by the music of Mercedes Sosa. (Amnesty International USA)

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.

For more information on both Día de los Muertos concerts, visit sfsymphony.org

Read the rest at El Tecolote

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